Great Times with Buckshot!

Last week I took Thursday off of work. I was feeling much better from the previous weekend “illness” caused by an antibiotic. So I wanted to go see Buckshot. The weather was nice and I was so very glad to see Buckshot. Just missing a weekend felt like I had missed a lot of time with him. I got to ride him and we started in the arena. After our warm up and some trotting, I decided to try and ride alone in the trail. Buckshot did great – it was nice and quiet in the woods and he seemed very comfortable, even though there weren’t any other horses with us. We went about halfway down the trail and then turned around. His energy picked up very slightly; I guess he was happy to be going home.

But I wanted to do some more work in the arena. So after we exited the woods, I headed him towards the arena and he walked in with purpose and a good stride. He walked straight into the center of the arena and promptly stopped. I’m pretty sure he was thinking, well, now, it’s time to dismount. But I spoke to him and said we’d do a few more minutes of work, at which he immediately moved forward, three steps and stopped again! I think he was thinking, yes, you’re right, that wasn’t a good place to dismount, but this spot here, is just fine to dismount! I broke out laughing at his willingness to help me find a spot to dismount! I couldn’t help it – he just seemed so earnest about it. I laughed and laughed, and decided to, well, dismount! And give my horse a big smile and hug, and a treat! Whether it is his sense of humor, or willingness to help, either way, what a special horse!

Saturday was a good day at the farm, although we had several strong rainstorms so our riding was cut short. And Sunday was a day of wicked heat and humidity, with a heat index of 106 muggy degrees, so I didn’t ride Buckshot. Instead I planned to do some work by walking around on the lead line. After bringing Buckshot to the barn to groom him, we started walking down the road to the field arena. And guess what? We went farther than we ever have! And made it very, very close to the field arena. As I led Buckshot down the road, he followed very willingly, without any balking or hesitation. He stopped occasionally to look at horses in the pastures on the road. We reached a spot near a barn where I had previously given him a treat. This time, he stopped and softly touched my hand with his nose. A reminder, perhaps, that this was a treat spot? Probably. So I gave him a treat there.

And we kept walking. Several yards down the road, he became nervous, and smooth as silk, turned me around one hundred and eighty degrees. I let him walk a few steps in that direction and then stopped him. I told him if he would walk just ten more steps, he’d get a treat and we’d turn back. Well, we turned back around and he did walk/ slightly circle for ten additional steps beyond the farthest point. I then gave him a treat and we headed back. We were so close to our destination, but I didn’t want to push it. He had gone beyond his comfort point already. Inside, I was thrilled at how far he had gone – so willingly and trustingly! I’m sure we will make our destination in a few more attempts! There is grass there I can’t wait to let him eat. I am so proud of Buckshot.

We walked back down to road and went into the arena. We did a few exercises walking around and over several cavaletti. He even backed up over them. After a few minutes, I said let’s go walk on the trail. And we headed into the trail. We walked very far into the trail by ourselves. Buckshot was willing and trusting, stopping to sniff every pile of poop, but otherwise, without any problems. I finally stopped us, took a drink of water (the day was so hot and humid the trail was like a sauna!), gave him a treat, and turned around to head back. He followed willingly.

When we exited the woods, I was thrilled with him! We had never walked so far in the woods by ourselves before! What a willing and confident horse he was! I took him to his stall, not to untack him (he only had a halter and lead line on), but to get his “post-work” treats, and get his rinsing tools, and we went to the wash stall for a nice rinse. Then I took my amazing horse back to his pasture, telling him all the way what a wonderful horse he is!! I am still so proud of him, of his willingness to go on two adventures, further than we had gone before, and with such a good attitude. When he became nervous at one point, he let me know, and then trusted me with a few more steps. I know it may seem so ordinary, we were just walking various places, but for me, it was an exciting day for us, and makes me just so proud of him! I hope you had a wonderful time with your horses also!

On another topic, last night I saw the movie “Buck” about horse trainer Buck Brannaman. I thought it was a good movie. It relayed his background and history, and his current clinics. It shared a little bit of his training theories. In my opinion, he seems to be a very nice, low key person, a great horse trainer with a lot of empathy for horses and a general all-around nice person. Someone I’d love to have the opportunity to talk to in person some day. I find him such a contrast from the hard-charging, heavy-handed marketing-type clinicians. Unfortunately, I can’t say that I learned a lot from the movie; in fact, I wish he had shared more of his theories, practices and philosophies. Watching him ride his horse in a field, and perform the most beautiful, controlled, soft moves with a horse was breathtaking. It was far beyond any maneuvers I ever will be able to do, but I appreciated seeing such lovely riding by an expert. There are also some raw and difficult sections of the movie, e.g., the physical abuse he suffered as a young child, as well as issues with a dangerous horse at one of his clinics. Overall, I liked the movie and do recommend it to horse fans. But it isn’t really a movie for children because of the topics just mentioned. For adult horse fans, it is a good movie. What are your thoughts on it?

Adventures with a Confident Buckshot!

I want to thank Carol of Dressage Training Journal, who is training a wonderful horse, Rogo. She commented on my last post about how similar Rogo is to Buckshot. They both will walk energetically to the arena’s open gate, and then go outside of the arena, only to lose their confidence or eagerness or both. How funny! And what are they thinking? I wish I knew.

This past weekend Buckshot and I had some new adventures with this behavior. On Saturday, it was quite hot and humid. The main arena had a lot of puddles and water spots in it, mainly along the rail, due to some heavy rains. But regardless of the water, I knew that Buckshot would be fine in the arena, although we would have to ride in the smaller available area. We began our phase one walking and Buckshot did well, responding to my cues despite the heat. I worked for a while on my legs and seat, e.g., on guiding him with just my legs and seat to see if I could use my reins less. Buckshot was great at this; in 8 out of 10 direction changes, he got it right from just my leg aids. Just a few times I had to also pick up the reins to give him the direction. I was surprised and pleased by this. To be honest, I didn’t do anything different with my seat; I just didn’t know what to change. But still, he would respond from just my legs. Wonderful!

After a bit of trotting, and then even a few very nice canters, we went to the center of the arena to stand and give him a bit of rest. This is when I will lengthen my reins, and this is usually when he starts to walk toward the open gate. So I let him walk, just to see what would happen. Well, out he went. He turned left and headed toward the barn where we groom and tack up! I thought with amusement, where is he going? Why is he going back to the barn? It isn’t the place where I dismount, so he couldn’t be thinking, it’s the end of the lesson, time for you to get off, Jan! Before we got into the barn, I steered him gently back to the arena! What a funny guy! But he had walked with purpose and eagerness (although he wasn’t hurrying or tense or worried or anything like that), to a totally new place for us! I thought, he is feeling confident about exploring! Good for you, Buckshot! Confidence in a horse is an attribute that I have read about a few times in my horse reading, but it seems to me to be elusive, and hard to see. Yet, that was what came into my mind as he calmly took both of us off towards the barn, and probably right into the barn if I had let him. Since I didn’t want to try to turn him around in the small space of the barn aisle, I didn’t let us get actually into the barn.

Later that day, Buckshot and I led on the trail ride, through the woods that had many watery places, puddles, and large ponds. He did great in the role of first horse. He never balked or stopped at any standing water. And I noticed that on our walk back through the woods, his energy picked up just a bit! Perhaps knowing that at the end of the ride, he would get a treat and a bath. I was very proud of him.

On Sunday, it was again very hot and humid and I decided to keep our ride fairly easy. During our phase one walking, Buckshot was very slow, going barely one mile an hour LOL! At the beginning of our warm up, I am fine with this very, very slow walking. After ten minutes, I urged him into a normal walk, and after our twenty minutes, I asked for a trot. He did an extended walk. I asked again. Again, extended walk. So I asked him for a walk and stayed at that. A few minutes later, I asked for the trot again, and he summoned the energy for a nice trot. After a minute I asked again, and he did the most floaty, controlled power, extended trot, using the whole arena. Wonderful!

We stopped for a break in the center of the arena and I lengthened the reins. A few moments later, Buckshot started inching towards the gate, so I let him go to see where he would go this time. His stride picked up and out we went! He went across the grass, over a hill and towards the chicken house, then turned right, in the same direction as his pasture. I gently steered him back to the grassy area by the arena, and had him do a large circle, then steered him back into the arena. He wanted to explore again – this time not to the barn, but over to a totally different section of the farm! I was amazed! He seemed so confident, and calm about this new adventure, that he initiated and that I ended only when it seemed best to not wander off too far. He never balked when I steered him back to our normal area and then to the arena. I can only explain it as perhaps his confidence in himself, maybe in me, and in his farm surroundings, has grown and given the chance, he likes to explore. Wonderful!

After going back to the arena and doing more work, I decided to really test the waters, so to speak, and take him, for the first time ever, on the trail by ourselves. The day was quiet, and terribly hot, and there weren’t any other riders around, and Buckshot was very calm, so it seemed like a good opportunity to try this. I told Buckshot, how about if we go find some shade in the trail, and go a bit down the trail. In the back of my mind, I was alert, as I know in general it isn’t as safe to ride in the woods alone as it is with a riding buddy. But I thought we’ll just go a little ways on the trail, and then return. And we’ll see what happens. If Buckshot gets worried or nervous or I sense a problem, I’ll dismount and walk him back. So off we went! And to my surprise, he did great! He never became nervous or antsy; he walked with energy and calmness down the trail, over the bridge, turned around, and came back. I was thrilled!! Good boy, Buckshot! He did very well on this new adventure.

That is why I describe it as Buckshot’s confidence has grown; he has shown initiative to go places that he hasn’t ridden to, and he went on the trail alone for the first time. And he still listened to me and responded when I steered him away. The next time this opportunity arises I am going to lead him down the driveway road, toward the field arena. The last time I tried to ride him there, he balked severely and wouldn’t go. Even in hand, I have only been able to lead him halfway there. He walks down the road just fine when we are in a string of riders. But with his newfound confidence, I will try to ride him down the road again. I am terribly curious to see the outcome. I’ll let you know.

How do you gauge your horse’s confidence? Have you seen it change over time? Do you know why? I hope you had a good weekend with your horses as well! And thank you, Carol, for your comments – Rogo is a wonderful horse!

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