Riding with my mind

Friend Nat, me, and the sleepy Paxfilly herself.

Clearly, blogging has not been my focus nor my strength in the past months. After my fear post in November, I received some amazing feedback through comments, e-mails, and even a phone call or two. Much thanks for that. It would be a lie to say "I'm over it!" but also a lie to say I haven't improved daily. No, I'm not riding Indigo yet. I'm not ready, and obviously he is not, either— I've let him be more or less dormant, minus a few ground lessons, and where his manners were fair before, he's adopted a much less go-with-the-flow attitude. Several people, my husband included, have generously offered to work with me and mount him the first time themselves.. I'm not ruling that out, and it might help, but worse than hurting myself is the thought of getting someone else banged up because of my own insecurities. Though I'm not ready for that step on my own, I'm doing fine on other horses and losing the heart-in-the-throat feeling that mounting a squirrelly horse gave me so strongly after the incident in Utopia. I push myself a little bit every time I ride someone new, and it feels better and better. Not like it used to be, but that's fine. I can be patient.

I have worked with Pax, and see her going off to be properly started next fall. She has taken to —sigh..— jumping things. Like fences, and gates. And barrels. And I think the corner of the plastic round bale holders. She lept out of the arena two weeks ago and only slightly snagged her back feet. Hoping it is all a phase, in part because.. (exciting news to follow:)

Camp is finally getting a new riding arena! Of real pipe! And real footing! And even level ground!

Finally, the stars have aligned and the right people have uttered the word "yes" and it looks like we should have the old arena, tacking area, and corral torn down and a new structure standing by the beginning of March. Sounds like a potential donor has committed to getting us sand footing and railroad ties to line and elevate the arena itself, providing the solid, safe, less rocky ground that will benefit our kids and our horses. Can't express how stoked I am, and likewise how thankful. Temporary fencing has gone up and tomorrow the tear-down process begins. Riding lessons cancelled for the rest of February, though you bet I will still be riding Bandit.

Bandit.. My hero. Through all of this anxiety junk, he's been about as good as I could ask him. He has packed me on trails at weird hours of the day, and put up with my dressage-dreams-fueled weird exercises and experiments that come to me from nowhere. We dealt with some grouchiness and pain issues at our last regular dressage lesson, and swapped some things around (extracted his ground-down wolf teeth; powerfloated; de-beaned; trimmed; restarted SmartFlex Senior.) I was more than a little nervous that he'd turn up lame or not turn up at all, so to speak, at the Joan Bolton clinic we lucked into riding in. Instead, I learned (within minutes) all the ways that I was exacerbating his flaws and giving him all kinds of reasons to protest the gymnastic elements of dressage that are lacking in our normal skill set. By the end of the ride, you couldn't have Windexed the smile off of my face. 

Clinic, 1-27-2012. Come so far, and so far yet to go!

Both Cindy, the instructor I've been riding with north of Kerrville, and Joan (and Heather Blitz, rider of the great Paragon) practice riding through biomechanics, as conceptualized and taught by Mary Wanless. From Mrs. Blitz's website, linked to above:

The person who has been the biggest influence in my riding is my biomechanics coach, Mary Wanless.  I met Mary in 1993 and have continued to learn from her to the present.  Her research into the effect of riders’ bodies on horses is extensive and unique and not found in more “traditional” training.  Her theories continue miles beyond teaching the beginner to improve their seat.   The more advanced I become in my riding,  I find her even more helpful.  Like a mechanic tuning my engine as I need more and more technique, power and refinement.  As you progress up the levels, it gets harder and harder to find words to describe what we’re trying to achieve  but Mary’s style, using analogies and sensory feedback allows for amazing communication and understanding in a world of feel and timing.  I have always had a special niche in my own teaching because of my education from Mary and will forever be grateful for the day I was introduced to her. 

Bible-like. Kept by my bedside.

Reading Wanless' Ride with Your Mind Masterclass and Ride with Your Mind Essentials is changing my riding every day. I used the Essentials text to focus my attention on one muscle group at a time, and was quite quickly lead to the realization that there are many notions of horsemanship that I absolutely must let go. The balance, seat, and leg that I've received compliments (and good horsemanship scores) on repeatedly leave me vulnerable to a dozen traps that break the energy flow that can suddenly turn an acceptable ride into a connected, lifted, and beautiful one. We are so far from making that the norm, but those fleeting moments of roundness and softness are happening more and more often and I'm slowly developing the muscle memory to know where I need to be in order for the beauty in him to come out. I realize I would be eternally farther along in the process if I could spend some time riding a schoolmaster and being taught how and when to press the buttons to receive the award. Instead, it's a joint process with two personalities and two sets of flaws to contend with, as well as thirty-three years of bad habits between us. Outside of this circle of riders I've become privy to (weather through the barn I've been riding at or through YouTube searches of horse-and-rider teams employing the same principles) I have not seen riding like this. I want it, badly. 

My involvement in NATRC currently hovers at sitting on the advisory board of the newsletter and editing things for the Hoof Print. I'm glad I get to be involved there, but I'm completely looking forward to competing in the Wimberly Wayfarer later in the spring. Wimberly is another gorgeous Hill Country town, closer to Austin, and I think the familiar scenery could lend a little calm to my bucket o' crazy pony. He is so prone to absorbing the atmosphere around him.. at the dressage clinic, he was miraculously the quietest, most well-behaved little gelding of the bunch. I got several compliments on his ability to stand tied anywhere I put him; a skill honed strictly from trying to learn the ropes of long distance competitive trail. Yet when we're at CTRs, he's a bucket of nerves who tries to remove his eyeball and instead removes the trailer door, all in one foul swoop because a completely familiar person got a completely unremarkable distance away from him. Oh well. Can't have it all, and I'm lucky to have my old man!

Notes on the herd and my rides

I apologize, to the handful of you who read, for a decidedly long hiatus between posts here. Though I have been no less busy with horse-related things, those horse-related things tended to be work-related things. And I haven't been in a mindset to write, particularly, in part due to personal matters and the loss of my great Dad. That aside, I think it's time to catch up a bit.

Pax

I took the Very Large Filly on a walk the other day. I'm relatively certain that Taking Your Horse For a Walk doesn't make it into a lot of training books, but when I'm not close to being ready to get on her and not in the mood to long line or lunge, it is a nice way to get her mind out of the herd and onto her two-legged "mom." She was nervous, but mindful at the get-go, but I admire the fact that her nerves rarely manifest themselves into action. She is observant, rarely hesitant, and almost never flighty.. Except for when I started making a racket with my dressage whip in the tall pampas grass. That resulted in minor fireworks for a few minutes.

Satan's lair.

Anyhow, after we'd established that the pampas grass could be added to the "rather alarming but not malicious" list, Pax and I headed out the gate and down to the river crossing for our first swimming attempt. She is one of a handful of horses who tend to try and bathe in the elevated water troughs in the pasture, so I had high hopes— and was not disappointed. With just one sniff at the wide expanse of river and a pause to allow me to hike my shorts up and pull my boots on tighter (classy, yes) we stepped graciously in and waded around to both our chests' deep of the drink. She snuffled and played but remained a lady, and I acquired some brilliant blisters walking all the way back to the barn in sodden cowboy boots and swimwear. We stopped at a few spots on the way back to lunge on a shortened line and get back into "work, not rush home" mode, and she wasn't even pulling for the gate when we made it back in site of the equestrian center. Overall, I am proud of her. If I may have a moment to brag, she is growing up gorgeous. Very few PMU-mutts can ever pass the A+ confirmation test, and she certainly does not, but she is maturing into a balanced and graceful mare and I can't wait to see where things go in the next two years. My mom and I have discussed sending her to a proper trainer to get started. I've never done that before, but also only started one horse by myself under saddle.. and as she has been a bit of an investment, and I would like her to be worthy for low-level competition, it would be worth paying for sixty days of professional work. But that's a long way off. No reason to start her before fall 2012, if even then. June 1st will be her second birthday!

The Princess herself. Need to think of a good proper name for her soon.

Indigo

Tiff, a good friend and one of the part-time camp wranglers, started looking into a BLM horse seriously last week and I got to thinking about our little pinto 'stang boy sitting out in the pasture enjoying life and being lazy, and/or trying to hump a mare or two. (He's cut. I promise.) So I rigged up the borrowed surcingle over a western saddle, attached long lines after a little warm-up, figured ourselves out again in the round pen, and took the fellow driving around camp. He was great! A little bit of a gaffufle to get started, when we initially started moving away from our comfort zone of the equestrian center. We polished our "woah" and walk/trotted using voice cues, and I am able to cut back on the noise motivation from the stock whip I carry. I rarely if ever have to touch him with it, but he's lazy enough to wait for the threatening sound before moving off. But putting him in a new position and having to be the physical leader, while directing from behind, put Indy back on his toes and I got a nice little jog out of him through the kickball fields and down by the river. He is taking a while to truly soften to the bit, but he does accept it and bridles like a real boy now. His woah is good with contact, but it wasn't until this lesson that I felt him anticipate the sound a bit. I can't wait to get on him more this summer! And more mustangs for camp, with proper time and training, I think will be an excellent idea, especially in our aging herd. I wouldn't risk the online auction thing, but the drive to Colorado to really evaluate temperament and soundness was worth it. I think our product is shaping up wonderfully.

Tranquil stop by the Guad.

El Bandito

As for my grouchy old man, I was hoping to squeeze in another lesson with Sally in Fredericksburg before the craziness of summer cuts off all possibilities, but it looks like she may be out-of-state for quite some time. Her family is relocating away from the Hill Country, so I knew our time with her would be short, albeit a great blessing and hopefully the right way to shift focus with Bandit. I've gotten to spend time with some of the Waldemar polocrosse ladies on a couple of afternoons (one of our best camp horses was donated through that club, more or less) and caught the name of another woman who teaches dressage just outside of Kerrville. The price is a bit more, unsurprisingly as we were scoring an awesome deal minus the diesel cost, but the facility sounds fantastic. I haven't ridden in an indoor arena since sneaking into my university's rodeo arena to ride a handful of times. I haven't ridden with mirrors since I was about eleven. I am utterly excited.

Last week I made an attempt at doing some more "dressage homework," as Sally put it, but ended up getting distracted and going over the tiny jumps Dick and I put together for the kiddos. I have not asked Bandit to jump a thing, minus trail obstacles, since I was about fifteen and into our brief Parelli phase.. which involved alot of the at-liberty lunging over barrels. He was pretty good at that, I think mainly because he is scared of the color white (which encompasses a wide gamut of objects, let me tell you.) But after a couple of shady go-arounds and blasting our way through trot poles trying to snatch at the bit, we did some successful little bounces and, if I dare say so, I think the old man enjoyed the change-up. That said, tomorrow I plan on getting down to business and aiming for a degree of respectability at next week's lesson. It's at, like.. a fancy place. As in, I may wear a clean shirt. With a collar. Gasp.

Putting Little Sister Pax in her place. Height is no object.

A note on his bridle— having not been terribly impressed with the Dr. Cook's on a trail ride where I (stupidly) decided to go for a gallop with a friend on a similarly hot horse, and not having particularly measurable success getting Bandit on the "bit" (in the bridle?) without an actual bit.. We had a random breakthrough last weekend. I switched to Bandito after riding a super-solid but slightly slow lease horse for a group trail ride. I always ride him in the Dr. Cook's for those easy rides, as he is cucumber cool for the most part and I see advantages in switching things up with him between his various mild headgear. I don't ask for much, but usually try to get a little practice in every ride.. and from somewhere, things clicked, and I had a lovely, soft, round horse taking contact from my reins and going on about as nicely as Bandit will go. I won't be switching to the Cook's bitless for lessons, but maybe for more of our homework.

Rue

Why is The Fattest Pony In The West on this list? Well.. I have been cajoled? Convinced? By a friend or two to give polocrosse a try next fall when practices kick up again. As I see a temporary but extremely disappointing moratorium happening on my NATRC rides, thanks to an already packed schedule of weekend camp events through 2012, attending the polocrosse practices and kicking about at a new sport would keep me in a mix of horsey people and give me something new to learn. Let me assure you that at this point, I would much rather be charging along at a competitive trail ride.. But have to made allowances somewhere. Job is important and I am lucky to have it. Waldemar donated three used but quality Australian saddles to my riding program here at CFA, and I plunked down some cash to rig them out and see what I can learn. I don't think Bandit will ever be steady enough with flying balls and sticks, Indigo isn't old enough, and obese Rue needs a job. She is young, bombproof, capable of moving her fat little arse when she needs to, and plucky.. And very low to the ground, so my lanky, uncoordinated self can have a better shot at getting the darn ball off the dirt. I just.. y'know.. Look a little ridiculous on her. And she is a little ridiculous looking on top of that.

This angle does her too much justice. You can't see the hay gut.

Anyway, I don't even have a proper stick to use yet, so have mainly been conditioning her. Which turns out to be more of a commitment than I had anticipated— we trotted halfway up Mt. Vesper on the rocky hillside road, and literally had to stop. She wasn't being witchy or balky. She physically was worn out. Took it much easier the rest of the day, but I realize that she won't be in any fair condition until summer is on its way and I can alternate riding her and a couple of other horses. She has developed a rather hard mouth and opinionated way of going, but I think some consistency and a nice change to an o-ring snaffle will clean that up.

"Really, woman. I'm done now."

I leave you with this charming buttshot of The Cool Kids in the herd. Mind you, there are five round bales for our thirty horses, which averages out to six or less horses per bale if you account for those resting or watering themselves. There are twelve below, all the top dogs of the pasture, all determined to sit at the cool table in the cafeteria.

From far left to right: Peppy, Sunny, Hannah, Rue, Pax, Pumbaa, Indigo, Whiskers, Tango, Bonnie (hidden,) Marquee, and JB (also hidden.)

There are only two emotions that belong in the saddle.

One is a sense of humor, and the other is patience.

— John Lyons

If wishes were saddles, and general horse-hearted updates

First off, in reference to my prior post about Padre+, I am pleased and excit
ed to announce that my next proper, non-random-update post here will be a short and sweet interview from Padre+'s owner and rider, Patti Gruber. We have exchanged some e-mails and I have a couple more questions for her, but it's been exciting to pick her brain.

Next.. as you may have surmised from that intro paragraph, this is just a blabby little update on the flock of ponies. I've gotten a lot of riding and groundwork in since my last post, but feel a bit burned out on the arena as of last weekend and a million Girl Scout riders, so am satiated to be in San Antonio for a night. I don't feel obligated to do some work with the horses when I can be focusing on the family. (And clearly, Facebook and Blogger.)

Indigo got his mane roached for the first time two weeks ago. Which was nearly as anticlimactic as his first backing experience. He eyeballed the clippers once or twice, figured out there were treats up for grabs, and just let it happen. I confess he looks a bit like a convict, with the tattoo and the crazy eye and buzz cut and all, but he must be wildly cooler. His mane was a kind of thick I cannot describe.

At play with Rocky, who visited this weekend.

Pax has been carrying both saddles well and our lunging on the line has improved. Lunging over cavaletti was.. uninspiring, at least initially. She seemed to have no impetus whatsoever to pick her feet up and instead plowed blindly through whatever was in her path. A few rounds of set-up, walk over, a little whip, and coaxing finally produced an oversized but passable bounce and some degree of rate in her trot. I don't think she's brilliant, but she has a burning desire to be rewarded for something and will figure out (eventually) a roundabout path to that attention.

Our big pet spent a good portion of this weekend pressing herself against the fence, bright-eyed and starved for pets from the passing Scouts and troop moms. She got what she wanted and has stayed polite, if a little bit.. looming.

I feel like it's too early to be introducing a bit, but I also feel like Indigo could've benefited from earlier work carrying the bare bit, unconnected, underneath a halter. Thoughts?

Bandit had a very full week of work under saddle, and my thighs had two full days of bareback trotting. He is showing much more thorough acceptance of the bit and it takes a lot less warm-up to start seeing a little bit more frame without quite so much sweat at the start of a ride. Our 10 m circles still end up as.. err.. 10 m circles with a bite taken out of one corner when his shoulder drops. But I hope, pray, and think we will have something to show of ourselves next Tuesday at our lesson.

Desperate want.

Hopefully will purchase a Wintec Isabell on the rough anniversary of my treeless endurance purchase. I am also considering another treeless, but they are harder to come by and I don't want to spend quite so much as on my past two saddles. I know there are more than a handful of local and reasonable places I could get my hands on an Isabell Werth and the gullet system gives me confidence it could at least be passable on several horses while I'm still in the early learning stages.

Also would love to try the Fhoenix Vogue (treeless.)

Possibly most ideally.. A Sensation Formal Dressage.

Almost scared to try that one. For one.. It was a miracle I found my Sensation English Trail as cheaply and perfectly as I did, and snapped up the deal. (Thanks for your generous cash, Sweet Spouse Man.) And pure fortuitous luck that it has so perfectly fit Bandito, who, admittedly, is an incredibly easy horse to fit. Would it be worth the cash and the hunt to do it again? Maybe? Where are you lacking in going treeless for a discipline that requires more precision than perseverance?

No matter what.. We are enjoying ourselves in our questionable tack choices and dime store schooling clothes!

"If you don't have a deep passion for patience, stay away from training horses. "Hurry" is the enemy of progress." — Otto Von Monteton

Winter Updates

True story— I helped start a blog for my workplace (shameless plug: heyheycfa.blogspot.com) and am supposed to be writing there once a week. That kind of scheduled pressure tends to make my head dance and I've failed not only at maintaining a weekly status quo for CFA, but any sort of commentary at all on my personal blogs. I don't feel like I have a tremendous amount of stuff to say over at the more personal blog (blah blah, very happy, very busy, love Richard, blah blah, dog did cute thing) so I find myself back here, talking Barn Stuff, and feeling more at home because most of my time is luckily spent at the barn anyhow.

First off, Bandit. We completed our second NATRC ride, minus tornadic interference, at the Six-O Ranch near Cleburne, Texas, about five hours north. I received a fourth place in Lightweight Novice (it still tickles me that I'm considered a lightweight; all hefty 5'10" of me; YAY for treeless tack!) Horsemanship again, but The Band-Aid moved up to claim a sixth place ribbon in his class! I feel especially good knowing that he completely blew his second pulse & respiration check by blowing a gasket over nothing. His other two, where he behaved as a normal animal might, were excellent— which is even more impressive considering he was jigging, head-tossing, and egged on to bolt for 29.5 out of the 30 miles. I truly enjoyed meeting the other CTR competitors again; they are a very open-armed bunch and I felt more at ease putting Bandit at the very head of his class, paced with a handsome TWH and his friendly, chatty owner. We rode both days together, and while I eked out one placing above her in horsemanship skills, she swept our division for overall combined placing. Reactions to seeing my flashy little bastard ranged from people exclaiming over his good looks (nobody, I repeat, NOBODY thinks he's handsome in West Texas.. or South Central Texas for that matter) and his color and his behavior akin to that of a four-year-old. Once I explain he is seventeen, I get one of two reactions. One, "I never would have guessed! Don't worry, he will settle down soon." And two, "Do you think you should try the Open Division? What about endurance racing?" I take the second as a compliment not in that we are fantastic at NATRC, (we aren't at all, and we run through half of the obstacles) but in that my old horse maintains enough energy to be a ball of crazy from Mile 1 to Mile 30, two days in a row. He isn't a bit tired at the end of it, despite taking half of the ride at an interesting side-steppy parade lope.


So, I stick to my belief that Bandito is A Special Case and that he is truly the only horse of his kind in my lifetime, through the faults of my own, his owners before him, and his own nature. Whether that proves to be a good or bad thing, I may only be able to answer as a (hopefully) old lady.

Our dressage riding has been going pretty well. After the Mike Vermaas classical clinic last fall, I finally pushed forward to begin lessons with somebody more local and more affordable. Sally takes an approach a la Centered Riding, and while I have not seen the dramatic and elegant change Mike showed me through an hour or two of work with Bandy, she is a warm and truthful instructor and gives straightforward but challenging homework to take back with us. Right now, I am working on identifying footfalls through feel and subsequently knowing where my core needs to be with each stride my horse takes. (What a drastic change from "Lock your heels down, eyes up, shoulders back, WHATEVER YOU DO, DON'T BOUNCE!" that I have been taught and was guilty of teaching.) For our rides, I've been combining Sally's Centered Riding techniques to develop myself while asking Bandit for the give that Mike was able to bring out in us. And I've been reading the pants off of every dressage book I can, most of which sail over my head. But proof is in the pudding— I am really looking forward to seeing Sally in a week and showing her that yes, in fact, we are capable of 20 meter circles and being in the neighborhood of being on the bit! It has been a lot of bareback work and digging a hole in our crappy arena from hoofprints in the damp.

Still feeling out the Dr. Cook's bridle. We have had some excellent progress with it in the arena and roundpen, and I've found he has settled in to the different pressure well and is able to collect himself almost as consistently as with the snaffle. But.. Julie came over last week and brought Artex, and we went on a nice after-work ride around camp. Bandit walks, trots, canters peacefully and happily on a loose rein with the bitless as long as he is in the lead. However, when we switched into a higher gear and let Artex take the lead (because Artex, too, sort of sucks at being a follower) it was like Bandit was wearing a soft, cottony halter. Little to no response, nose braced against the pressure, not listening a lick.. I had to pull out the one-rein e-brake, and I RARELY have had to do that in my life. Granted, putting a zippy little horse into a race situation is not the smartest way to push the limits of a piece of equipment we have only been using for a couple of months, but it has deterred me from choosing the Dr. Cook's for high-speed trail work with friends. If we are on our own, it's still an excellent tool that we are learning to explore more and more. Going to keep our hands on the Little "S" hack for CTRs, however.


Pax is truly the benevolent barn princess. I've said that before and will again a thousand times in her life, but you have to watch the herd in action for a bit to understand. The Potomac Fever clearly did not stunt her growth noticeably; she is a beheamoth of a long yearling with hunks of thick gold mane that rivals my hair in length. She floats around the pasture with a big, lazy trot with surprisingly few dirty looks, even from the Evil Mare Society we house in our pasture. She has maintained petite Quarab Karat as a lady-in-waiting, but fellow giant Marquee (our LOPE OTTB) is now her queen's consort and I can't help but worry what can happen when those two monsters get moving.

I get nervous that she may get a mind to clear a fence at some point, so we have switched to gentle lunging on a line instead of work in the round pen. She's in a flightier mindset than a few months ago, but I think you can chalk that up to hormones and cold weather. We've been working on moving hind- and fore-quarters independently and I know I need to rig up some long lines so we may begin a little ground driving in the proper spring. Vet was surprised and pleased at how full her recovery has been (also said I could stop worrying about her round belly) and the vet exclaimed "that's the best behaved yearling I know!" which is pretty good praise, considering they spent 10 days with her at the clinic in August.

Great personality, through and through. She graciously visits every person who comes to call on her, no matter what. She is a lover and she knows her source of comfort. Love that big girl. Sometimes I stare at her and have to convince myself again she is mine. Then I get to thinking, What the hell am I going to do with a horse like this? And then I go pick up where I left off in an issue of Dressage Today and start hoping a lot.

And as for Indigo, he is out being a horse. Our elementary, under-saddle sessions sort of stalled after early December for no other reason that other things took precedence and time got short. I am not comfortable starting real work under saddle until late 3 / 4, so he has plenty of time. We have enjoyed several good groundwork sessions, working on manners and leading and following the push of applied pressure. And not trying to eat hands. The line between hands and food sometimes seems fuzzy, though he is sharp as a tack on most everything else. In the past couple of months, he has started the transition from being Interested Observer of New Humans in the pasture to being bold enough and confident enough in himself to step up and get friendly. Crazy to think that exactly a year ago, he was a scruffy, untouched two-year-old in a Nevada valley. He is a horse that will do well with the right kind of confidence boost and providing I stay structured. From what I understand of BLM horses going wrong in their training, I know I have to nip issues in the bud quickly. For me, that means going very slowly, despite a clever pupil.


— — —

I read some really interesting advice at the back of Equus this month. A novice woman bought a green horse for the first time, and an experienced horseman told her to simply talk to her horse through every minute of her progress with him. She said it worked, clearly not because the horse picked up on fluent English, but because (1) it calmed her down and lowered the tension between them and (2) her cadence and tone deeply affected the horse's response and action. Maybe not constantly, but I should get more comfortable with carrying on a conversation with my horses while we work. Despite a nagging feeling I might look insane.

— — —

In final bits and pieces, I spent last Saturday afternoon in Center Point watching a handful of ladies do some groundwork with their respective horses using Pat Parelli's Natural Horsemanship methods. It was very interesting; I've been around one Parelli trainer and watched a handful of his videos and saw some different approaches to making communication between horse and handler more fluid. Still not convinced it is The Only Way, but I don't think there is any One Way. I was offered some one-on-one instruction on his methods and the games (only a few of which I really remember well) from the ranch owner and I plan on taking her up on it if our schedules ever align. Always good to learn more.

Looked at a very cute gelding who I wish were about two inches taller. Richard doesn't exactly need a horse at the minute, but he caught my attention in part because he reminded me of a bolder version of Bandit, and in part because he was a handsome little guy. We will see where Blackjack ends up..

I spoke for the Equestrian Track of the 2011 Southwest Camping Conference last week along with two other professionals and our vet. Talked about our Adopt-a-Horse lesson program and our extended private lease agreements. It went quite well, actually. Met some other camp horse people, loved touring Camp Waldemar.

I've been roped into hauling a horse for a good friend to a polocrosse clinic on Saturday. I am not bringing a horse and can only stay to "audit" a couple of hours, but it should be interesting. The fellows name is Guy Roberts, apparently a big deal among polocrosse players in England. Always love getting a chance to watch a true professional, even if I can't envision my horse being slightly okay with flying balls and sticks during a fast-paced game. It would be kind of fun to do with friends, but my optimism isn't overwhelming. Bandit and I already broadened our horizons enough last year to last awhile.

Richard leaves for the Oklahoma Horseshoeing School this Saturday for a shorter term than we originally thought. His work with my farrier has gone well and he is eager to get back here and learn more while working. I'm proud of him for finding something that clearly drives him passionately more than his degree did, nervous about the entrepreneurial aspect of the job (this coming from a woman who loves the relative stability of working for the YMCA or the park service) and secretly quite pleased with myself for marrying a farrier and not even knowing it. He's been working hard, and it shows. He has a lot to learn but is one of those people with a damnable natural ability to pick things up, and a good mind when dealing with people and animals. His mum and sister are accomplished horsewomen and he learned his horsemanship early in the U.K. I'll miss him— and his help around the barn!

Ride on,
M.A.

First ride.

Both Indy and Pax have been enjoying horse-dom and lots of eating. I tie and brush them often, do a little halter work, throw some curveballs (i.e. flags, plastic bags, etc.) their way and go on to my lesson kids (of which I suddenly have scads, thanks not to advertising but word-of-mouth.. yay!) or Bandit, who I fear is not in as good of shape as I would've liked just a week and a half prior to our CTR. (But improving.)

But today, after taking a student and her mother on a big trail ride and finding some daylight left at the end of the evening, I decided it was time for Indy's first saddling. The saddle blanket was a bit of a touchy subject for a day or two and honestly, I had dropped the subject for several weeks, focusing on other groundwork.

First we free lunged in the newly re-assembled round pen. Richard and I just put it back together from the two pens it created during Pax and Indy's isolation days. The grass had all grown back, so Indigo was unfocused and determined to eat and we weren't going to achieve any sort of join up, so I stepped out and grabbed the saddle blanket.. and then a junky camp saddle on a whim.

He was a little nervous about the blanket, and I tend to throw it around like a spaz. We walked through that, let him sniff at the saddle, and for some reason, he was not remotely afraid of it. A little worried that I was reaching over to bounce the stirrups on his off side, but decidedly alright with the big leather object. Obviously I cinched him in stages, but that didn't bother him at all, either, even when I started to get brave and consider the possibility of backing him. Sent him around the pen again with the stirrups down and flopping at his sides, no issues.. Picked up his hind end a little when I came after him with the stock whip. He is rather difficult to motivate to move.

Brought him back into me, bopped the stirrups around a bit, threw my helmet on and bounced in the left and right stirrup.. Started to get ballsy, stood all the way up, down, up down, up down. I tied the long lead into a set of reins and makeshift mecate. My heart was pounding when I started to swing my foot over his hindquarters; scratched his bum with my boot heel, guided it over, and then we were sitting. He flicked an ear back and then stood stock still. I swung off, back on, off again, back on.. Started crying, realized I was being stupid to get on him for the first time (this is also the first time I've been the first person on board a horse; I've been the second many a time, but a newbie to virgin backs.) Texted Richard, told him to get to the barn quick, mounted back up, turned his head to either foot, and then Richard showed up and I was still crying stupidly and happily.

After scolding me for not having anybody present and snapping a crappy phone photo, Richard lead him around a bit with me on board and we called it a day.

A good day.

As for Pax.. 17 months is an awkward stage, but she is still sweet as punch. Last week appeared to be her first heat cycle, which would be on the early side of things if we have guessed her age correctly, but not totally unusual. Her mood didn't seem to change much at all.. We've only seen her mean ears once in almost a year of ownership. Her mane and tail are both disasters at the minute; she rubs her mane and rubbed almost an entire braid out of it while I had it plaited up from the heat, and her tail is.. Gross. Alas. Someday her sweet face will be matched with passable confirmation. ;)

I don't think I ever posted about my bad trailering experience two weeks ago, and I don't think this is the time to get into it. But, namely: Teach your horses to load without your assistance climbing in. Take the time to reteach others' horses who do not understand that concept. And always, especially with young horses, open the #)*#$# emergency hatch at the front of your trailer. At one point of the afternoon I became pinned beneath Indigo striking furiously to get out of the front of the trailer, his rope around my chest, and Snickers violently shaking her head in full set-back mode from her tied position at the back of the trailer. I was stuck for several long minutes, screaming "help," and eventually chose to crawl behind Snickers' back hooves to reach safety. It was entirely my fault and entirely stupid.

But, all's well that ends well. Here's one shot of Indy and Pax during some trailer work we did a week or so ago. Cute pon-pons!

Sundry pony update

Indigo had an afternoon of being a camp pony. I tied him up in the tacking area while R and I lead the last four rides of the day, and he hung around for the unsaddling bit where all the horses milled around and sniffed his bum and sides and face. Only Marquee and Missy made valiant attempts to kick him. He didn't offer to kick anyone back and seemed rather polite and taken with Hannah. Cutie.

He was the most unnerved I've seen him today when I first brought out the blanket. But after he sniffed it and chewed it and I started tossing it to his shoulder rhythmically, he settled down and I was able to get it over his sides and pull it over belly, hip, tail, neck, and head within a few minutes. It never seems to take much time to teach him anything. I even "girthed" him with a spare rope around his belly.. Loose at first, then I tightened it 'til it was about cinch tight. For some reason, that didn't bug him at all. He wore the blanket and fake-cinch around for a little bit, tied with it, chewed on it some more, and then we were done. After I walked him through the tack room a few times.

Thursday, we went for a walk about camp. Nothing was scary, except for the big Y-Man poster cutout when whapped with a stick and the lids on the big trash cans slamming. Besides that, he was generally just bemused with everything going on and quite calm in hand. Only once or twice have I had to reprimand him for walking through a "woah" cue; he listens well. The new halter with a few more knots over the nosepiece gives enough bite that he minds easily.

He's met a few campers and done well. I do worry about his mouthiness, but he's learned what I mean when I growl at him and he has his lips wrapped around something/someone.

Richard taught him to pick up his back feet today. I'm proud of both of them— R can be a little quick to discipline, but we talked about trust and he absolutely got it and the different learning curve Indy's on. But without any kicking, any fright, he asked him to give his back left and then his back right. The only struggle is just a balance issue, but I think they are both figuring it out. It's cool to watch. :)

Pax looks awesome. Her belly is back. Her shoulders are filling out again, and her hips are rounding. Hopefully her tail grows out quickly. (It was bandaged so long and not taken out for 10 days; some of the weaker hairs at the dock wore out and so she looks a little.. Skunky.) Her mane has gone totally wild again and I decided not to tame it out of its double-maned-ness. I sort of like it. Even though I haven't done much with her outside of feed her and watch her closely, it absolutely brightens my day when she sets her big head into my chest and sighs and looks for pats. She is a very good girl.

And Bandit? Sassy as ever, but great to ride. He is a little lazy in the back end still if we're just lollygagging, but I think he looks fit and ready.

Clever, clever boy

Bandit and I (and most of the rest of the herd) spent the weekend shuttling lovely Girl Scouts around on trail rides that never ended in complete disaster, but occasionally came close. I kid, somewhat, but the most stressful part of my job is inevitably when the horses go "public" and parents are thrown into the mix. Having Tiff there absolutely helps control the chaos, and this weekend we also had one of the high ropes instructors from the summer, Justin, who did a great job for his first real go-around. He got to partake in the Bee Hive Fiasco of 2010 back in July, and works hard and keeps a very level head (much like Tiff) so really couldn't have asked for a better team.. But that said, it was still 120+ Scouts and moms, Daisies to Cadettes, and that, my friends, can be a crazy crazy time. I'm looking forward to my lesson kids coming back this week and enjoying real one-on-one teaching time.

This was also Indigo's "debut" as an educational piece / object of adoration by dozens of adorable little girls. I posted a little sign, talking about his origins and his color and please-don't-stick-your-fingers-in-here-because-I-innocently-like-to-munch-on-them, but really we can't see him very well from our vantage point at the barn. (His pen is behind the craft shed, using the back shade structure as a shelter.) Richard, however, did spend a good part of his weekend in the craft shed making bird houses with the Juniors, and he said Indy was on good behavior the whole time. The girls were thoroughly excited to meet him and thought he was the most beautiful thing in the universe. He didn't nibble on anyone and I'm sure got a few pets in there somewhere.

Pax also enjoyed some attention today. I think Richard grew weary of his last birdhouse-building group finishing their projects early and took them over to visit her. She was appropriately gracious about eating grass from everyone's little hands and enjoying lots of pats and ooh's and ahh's. If I'm not very diligent about getting my horses out to new places to see things, they are subjected to an enormous amount of handling from lay people and squealy kids. The rest of the time, she looked longingly at her best friends Karat and Dolly through the corral fence, or slept in the sun, sprawled out like a snoring, farting, oversized cat. I have never been around a horse that slept quite so thoroughly or voraciously all the time. I can't help but worry that there's something off about her, but it may also just be part of being so damn calm that firecrackers under the tail wouldn't set her off so much. I love that horse. I have no idea what made me buy that horse, but I love her.

Anyway, after an epic nap tonight post-Scout weekend, before it got completely dark, Richard and I headed to the barn to work on our respective crafts. While he picked hooves and trained his back, I caught Indigo and lead him out of his pen for the very first time since arriving a couple of weeks ago. He balked a little bit at the gate and stared at me rather wide-eyed, finally took a hesitant step out, then a few more, and then buried his nose in grass and grazed backwards until he was firmly back on the other side of his pen threshold. We tried again, and things were obviously easier, and it wasn't five minutes until we were easily leading around the round pen clearing, past the tacking area, and around the arena. He balked a bit at gates but doesn't act silly; he just wants a good sniff at everything before he takes it on.

After we lead around the arena, I let him loose and popped the lead at him until he was sent into a quick trot about half the length of the arena.. Promptly stopping to graze over visiting the rest of the herd, who were gathering at the far fence to check out the new kid. I grabbed a stock whip and drove him around a little bit— saw his lope for the first time, and some pretty silly crowhops (like, two of them) and the most trot since we first laid eyes on him. He's cute! Covers some ground. He came pretty easily, and ate his first horse cookie. Probably not the best idea on my behalf as he is certainly mouthy, but it's nice to have a quick food reward that he'll accept now instead of trying to feed him handfuls of alfalfa. (That said, I don't really believe in training based heavily on food reward, but I do use treats as a way to reward patience or a good ride or training session.)

After some grazing and more leading, I put him in the tacking area and tied him up again and gave him another good grooming. He was a little squirrely, but considering the circumstances, I was very impressed. Richard even handled his back legs a little bit. He tested the confines of his lead rope, but did not offer to set back or try to untie it again. I am thankful he is starting to look towards me for assurance whenever he's concerned about something.

Indigo's success hasn't made me overconfident in my gentling abilities, but he has made me feel like I don't entirely suck at choosing horses. Picking him out of that facility was one of the hardest non-life-endangering or family-related things I've ever had to do, and I felt like a lot rested on him. After we saw him and Eve dubbed him "Fugly," my mind immediately kept going back to him after every horse we pondered over certainly not because of his looks, but because of his temperament. I think he's a good match for us, and I'm entirely taken with him. There's so much left to teach him, but every day he shows an honesty and an openness to learn and to trust that is impossible to not get excited about. I do have to make a conscious effort to keep in mind his wildness and deeper-set instincts, but I think that also helps to keep me thinking on his level and at his speed.

I'm excited. He's a neat horse.

1 month 'til Quitaque

Oye.

Bandit was utterly full of loco beans today.

"Standing" respiration rate was 16 breaths a minute, though actually that was after walking him in from the hillside and having him get a little wound up, anticipating being tacked up and going. At the minute, that's one of my biggest concerns about the CTR— his standing respiration rate is high high high anyway, and his heart rate is on the high end as well.

On the subject of heart rates, I absolutely and completely suck at taking them. I can find a pulse, digitally or in front of the throat latch, and I immediately lose it. For today's ride, I mainly concentrated on respiration because I was getting so frustrated taking his pulse while he was squirrely and decided to hit the internet to see if there's a better method, short of carrying a stethoscope with me.. Which I suppose isn't out of the question. But I feel stupid. Plus, an equine heart rate monitor ain't cheap.

Anywho, we were out and about for 52 minutes this morning, in the wet, puddle-y, slick-rock morning air. 10 minutes of that were a standing break in the middle, trying to see how his recovery rate was. Pretty terrible. Somewhere in the neighborhood of 30.

As I said in my Facebook status, I didn't feel so much like I was horseback riding today than being strapped to some sort of rocket ship. We've gone on a couple of leisurely rides and some swims in the river, but nothing at a good clip since summer.. And I decided to just swing on, warm up a bit in front of the barn, and go. Yikes. We were also back in his Little S Hackamore, which admittedly loses its bite if I don't move it up or down his nose a bit and, recently, switch him between that and a loose-ring snaffle. He IS responsive enough, but sometimes I have to use a big verbal woah and a heavy seat, which isn't too conducive to being up in my stirrups and over his back most of the time. I'm definitely bringing a bit or two to the competition.

He was absolutely zooming, and got fairly ahead of himself over the first hill. His back end was very very strong, with only a couple of slips the whole hour, which I think could both be attributed to riding in slick mud and over wet limestone. We never settled terribly well into one pace, even our trot went from big to small to leaping depending on the terrain, but there really isn't any stretch of level ground on that whole ride except through the cedars, and that was SOAKING wet. After our 10 minute rest before Fort Clarke, I intended to let him out in a hand gallop for the little windy bit before the Vesper fork, but it was just too wet and he was just too wound up. Wasn't a good choice. We had one great firecracker moment approaching a downhill when we went to woah, he almost walked, and a deer shot behind us and we ricocheted forward— I nearly tumbled off the back end!

As for my seat.. Eh. The workouts I've been doing every other day are mainly glutes and thighs, which I KNOW is helping, but I felt a little lost in the saddle in riding tights and the slickness of the leather. I'm considering getting a sheepskin cover for a little more tackiness, or maybe full-seat tights? I just need to stop sitting, ever, and two point 12 hours a day for the next month. BAhhelkjraf.

I have "met" (re: phone and internet) a couple of very nice people through the NATRC website and Yahoo groups (and Facebook, go figure) who are fielding my daily questions about Crap I'm Going To Forget. Richard is getting roped into helping do P&R checks and other menial tasks about the ride.

I'm so excited.

As a footnote, finally got to work Indigo again yesterday. It was only 20 minutes or so, and without very much pressure, as his pen is still half slop.. But I had him haltered in short order and leading better than before, even though he was a bit spazzy to start out with. Please, God, let things dry out over the weekend!

And as for Pax.. She has been back out to pasture for four or five days and looking much, much better and much happier for it.