Last Saturday (Feb. 25th) was windy, windy, windy! Big gusts, lots of steady wind, threatening to blow anything not nailed down into the next county! Sunny but windy and cold. Luckily, Buckshot is not bothered by wind so I knew we would be able to ride. I brought him in from his pasture to the main barn for grooming. As usual, I started at his neck, curried him down his neck, down his front leg, on his side, then belly, then his back, then his haunches, then his croup, then down his hamstrings, and whoops! Crusty stuff covered his hamstrings and down his back legs! I couldn’t even curry it off of him. Poor guy, he’d had a lot of diarrhea and it had dribbled. His tail was pretty crusty also. Even though it was a cold day, I decided I would have to clean him up after our ride. I brushed and brushed at his tail, to loosen as much as possible. I used paper towels to rub off some of the “fresher” stuff. It was a big job just to give him a basic grooming. But I got it improved some, and then tacked him up.
We headed out to the arena, wind blowing into our faces, swirling around us unendingly, making loud, chaotic noises. I mounted and we started our twenty minute walking phase one work. We practiced straight lines, and circles. The arena had soft footing, with the occasional puddle. The wind didn't bother us. When we started trotting, Buckshot had a nice energy. We did some extremely nice canters as well.
Only one other rider braved the wind (the BO husband), so we were joined by him and his reining horse. After a few minutes, we went through the woods (after I had carefully listened for any cracking noises of branches in the woods, and hadn’t heard any). The woods were quiet; apparently the wind broke around the woody terrain and didn’t penetrate it. The footing was good, although in a few places the horse in front of us stepped into thick mud and slid forward a few inches. I was vigilant in watching the trail in front of us. Both horses must have enjoyed the walk through the quiet woods. When we exited the trail, into the hay field, both horses started jogging immediately. Not a frantic, worrisome jogging, but a controlled, smoothly energetic jogging. The reining horse jogs (trots) slower than Buckshot does, so I half-halted him, and he settled into a springy, light as a feather, bouncy, controlled trot. I neither sat it nor posted it. Instead I bounced it, as light as a feather! It was wonderful. The sunlight caused our shadow to show on our right side, so I watched myself bounce lightly on his back, using my legs, but bouncing with such a small height that I wasn’t hitting his back. It was magical – I have never experienced such a lovely trot by Buckshot before! Good boy! We bounced along the hay field until we hit a lake of water in one section, at which point I dropped Buckshot back into a walk until we crossed it. Then I let him trot again all the way to the reining arena.
We had a wonderful time at this arena. The footing was good, with just a few muddy sections to avoid. The wind was very slight, probably blocked by the woods. The sun was shining and clouds were running across the sky. Buckshot and I did lots of trotting – using the whole arena, which feels wonderful. We did some very good canters as well. I practiced the right canter lead, followed by careful steering, to get a big circle. Buckshot tried hard and did well, for him. After he worked for a while, I took him to the side of the arena where there is grass, and let him eat. Then back into the arena for a few more minutes of work. After that, the BOH and I walked back through the woods, returned to the barn and I dismounted. A wonderful ride.
After untacking Buckshot and giving him a few treats, I enlisted the help of my sister to clean Buckshot. I put her in charge of his head, holding the lead line, and giving treats, while I took over the back side. We heated up buckets of water with a water heater thing. I added soap, and using lots of paper towels, soaped him up, rubbing with the curry comb, and dipped his tail in a bucket of soapy water. Then, with lots more buckets of warmed water, I rinsed him and rubbed him vigorously to get him as dry as possible. I know it must have made him feel better to not have the crusty stuff pulling on his hairs, and going all the way down his legs. Although I couldn’t really get him squeaky clean (I need a hose for that, and it was too cold for a hose), I got him a lot cleaner, and hopefully, a lot more comfortable. The BO said his diarrhea may be due to the new spring grasses coming up. Anyway, he was a cleaner Buckshot when I left him on Saturday night!
On Sunday, the wind was gone, thankfully. It was a mild day, in the forties, and sunny. We took three horses to the reining trainer’s clinic. Buckshot had an off day. He wasn’t at his best. He was responsive with the trot, but when I asked for the canter, only half of the time did he respond with a canter. That isn’t like him. When we sat at the sidelines while other riders did an exercise, I noticed Buckshot’s sides heaving. I wondered if he was tired, and so let him rest longer, and toned down what we did. After he had rested, and his sides were not heaving, he would turn his muzzle around to touch my foot, which I interpret as, “Let’s do something!” so then we walked or lightly trotted a bit.
When the class was over, and I dismounted, he ate some grass. When I offered him some cookies as a treat, he took them, but not as enthusiastically as usual. After a few bites, he refused any more. That is not like him at all. So he must have been feeling a bit bad. We trailered them back to the farm. As the BOH lowered the horses windows, I saw him offer each horse a treat, and Buckshot took his. As I walked him back to his pasture, he stopped for grass nibbling, so I think he was feeling better. He rolled in his pasture- a regular, over the top rolling – and later when I went to feed them, he nickered in his usual way, and ate his dinner just fine. So I think he was feeling normal by then. But of course, I hope I didn’t overwork him at the clinic. I’ll just have to see.
So it was a good weekend, and a good time with Buckshot, even if he had an off-day. And he is much cleaner now!! Hope you had a good late winter (if we can call it that!) weekend with your horses!
One woman's reflections on her journey with horses...
Showing posts with label reining clinic. Show all posts
Showing posts with label reining clinic. Show all posts
Monday, February 27, 2012
Monday, December 12, 2011
Autumn Ride, Reining Clinic and a Christmas Present
Before I write about my weekend with Buckshot, I have to comment on my pictures on the last post. During the week, I happened to look at my blog and was appalled, I tell you, by those photos! I look terrible in them. Ha ha.
Clearly my camera is broken. The key features I need on a regular basis – the adjustment for a bad helmet day, and for a bad clothing day, and a bad posture day, and a look-too-fat day, all the critical camera adjustments- are broken! I need to take the camera to the repair shop! Ha Ha! I never realized my helmet makes me look like a marshmallow-head! Oh, heavens! I must get a better helmet! Buckshot looked good, but I looked, well, not very good at all. What was I thinking putting those photos on my blog? I must have been momentarily delusional. I thought about deleting them, but I decided to leave them up so others will feel like they look great! (Thank you to Juliette for her kind compliments – she may want to check her vision, though! Just kidding!) Some people are very photogenic, but I’m, well, not very photogenic. I wish I could get a professional photographer to take some pictures of Buckshot and me. That’s on my wish list. Well, now that I’ve gotten that off my chest and had a few good laughs from it, on to the weekend.
On Saturday, December 10, 2011, the Virginia weather was lovely- in the forties and sunny, with a clear, blue sky. I went to get Buckshot from his pasture using my new procedure. Yes, a new procedure. You see, a few weeks ago, something scary happened in the pasture. Buckshot and Lucky were way out in their pasture grazing when I went to get Buckshot that day.
I walked out to Buckshot, chatted with him, put his halter on, and proceeded to walk with him to the gate. Without warning, Lucky started cantering to us, and just as he passed us – too close for comfort – he kicked out powerfully with both hind legs! I was stunned! And scared! His hooves were just a few feet from me. Buckshot didn’t move, didn’t dance around, didn’t get nervous. But my adrenaline shot up as I realized just how close we both had come to a huge kick. I walked Buckshot silently to the gate, never taking my eye off of Lucky, who seemed to have calmed down as quickly as he had gotten excited.
We got out of the pasture and I talked softly to Buckshot, telling him that had really scared me, we had never had Lucky act so dangerously and it scared me to death. Buckshot lightly touched my hand holding the lead rope, in a comforting way. I took deep breaths and as the adrenaline diminished, I decided that I would need a new procedure for the future to protect us from such dangerous antics. I also reminded myself to never go into the pasture with Lucky without a lead line with me, just in case I need to twirl it to keep him away from me if he gets excited like that again. I also knew that I would need to devise a new method for getting Buckshot out of the pasture.
The next several times I went to get Buckshot he was near his barn, and was not out in the pasture, so I didn’t have to use my new procedure. But this past Saturday, it was time to implement it. They were both grazing out in the pasture. I got Buckshot’s halter and lead line and disconnected the lead line. I approached them both normally, calling to them when I am far away so that they would see me coming and not be startled by my approach, walking towards their sides, not their back ends, saying hello, and then going up to Buckshot to pet and greet him.
I put his halter on him but kept the lead line in my hands, not connected to the halter. I started walking toward the gate and he followed closely. I watched Lucky with a hawk eye. I kept the line in my hands so that I could twirl the non-clip end of it if needed (it wasn’t needed). The funny thing was that I think Buckshot thought the lead line was attached! He could see it in my hands near his face, but he didn’t know I was holding onto it for a different purpose. I swear he thought it was hooked to him! How funny! Anyway, that is my new, safer procedure for pasture safety. It worked fine with Buckshot so I think it is a good solution. I need a lead line in my hands. And I need it to not be connected to Buckshot for two reasons. One is if I need to twirl it in the event that Lucky canters too close to me. The second reason is that I want Buckshot to be able to run off freely if Lucky’s cantering bothers or excites him.
At Buckshot’s previous farm, he lived in a pasture with twelve or thirteen other horses, and there were a few times that I walked out to get him, and had several horses start running toward us as we walked to the gate. I learned then to be able to unhook the halter fast, really fast so that if they came up on Buckshot he could run if needed. But I realize now that unhooking the clip still takes time and I might not be fast enough if running horses are nearby. Plus I realize now that a running horse might feel like kicking out, and I could be in his kicking range. So I will be very, very alert to this now, and have a lead line to help if needed.
Back to Saturday. After I safely extricated Buckshot from his pasture, I took him over to his secret patch of heavenly grass we’ve found! Yes, right by the BO’s house is a patch of the greenest, emerald-looking, thick, rich, dense, prettiest grass you ever saw and for the past few weeks I have taken Buckshot there and let him eat to his heart’s content! He loves it! I stand and think my thoughts, and look around, and talk to him, and pet him, and check him for tiny injuries, and just stand and stand and stand, letting him just feast on this rare patch of lush grass. It is my gift to him for being such a wonderful horse. I hope it stays green and delicious for him for a long time.
After his special grazing, I took him to the barn and groomed him and tacked him up. Then we went out to the arena – good footing, hooray! – and started our walking warm up. His energy level was somewhat slow at first. The other student riders came out and we began our class. When we got to some trotting, Buckshot did well. And when we did a little bit of cantering, we were great! I was careful to support him on the turns by holding my inside leg against him and laying the rein over his neck, and he went around the turn without breaking gait. It was wonderful!
Then the class went on a long trail ride through the autumn woods, filled with the picture perfect mixture of crunchy leaves underfoot, cool air, and sunshine twinkling down from above. The only imperfection was the scent – in one swampy section, something had died and it smelled pretty rank. But none of the horses were bothered by the smell. We returned to the barn and dismounted. Buckshot was great!
On Sunday, we planned to go to a reining clinic at a nearby reining trainer’s farm. Just to brag a bit, this reining trainer, D, got back recently from the reining nationals finals in Oklahoma City and he had a great success there – in his class (which I guess was one of the professional classes), he tied with a few other competitors for 14th place. In the nation. Wow – that’s impressive! It was a great competition for him.
So, on Sunday morning, I got Buckshot from his pasture (no need for my new procedure since the horses were not out grazing) and walked him to the main barn, which meant we walked by the trailer sitting there. He did a few semi-loud snorts as we walked by it. I didn’t say anything, just kept thinking about how calm I was.
My theory is that my calmness, deep and confident calmness, even if I know that I am really a little nervous, but covered up and totally disguised with a deep, deep, all-encompassing sense of how very, very calm I am, will help Buckshot if he is nervous about something. I haven’t yet told you the story, the big, big story, of why this matters so much to me. It’s the story of the biggest, scariest thing that has ever happened with Buckshot, and it’s quite a story. You won’t believe it. I wouldn’t have believed it. The BO didn’t believe it. The vet didn’t believe it. But it happened. Buckshot did it. Well, I hope I have your interest peaked! That’s mean of me, I know. Sorry. I will share the story in my next post. I promise. And then you’ll know why acting calm when I think Buckshot is nervous has quite a significant backstory for us.
Anyway, back to today’s story (and I apologize for all my tangents). Buckshot loaded onto the trailer wonderfully (yes, I’m bragging about him again, sorry) along with two other horses and we drove the hour trip to the other farm. I got Buckshot tacked up and mounted and we started our warm up with energy. Buckshot seems to love being at this farm, and always walks energetically over to the mounting block. I got on, gave him his treat, and we walked off with eagerness. Maybe he likes the deep, soft footing of the big arena. Or maybe he likes seeing the other horses. Or maybe he is, like me, looking forward to the work and the cool weather and the wonderful sense of life and satisfaction from a good ride together. Whatever the cause, he seems to approach the clinic with happy anticipation.
We need a longer warm up than any of the other horses so the trainer started giving instruction as we were walking. When we joined up with the group of about eight horses and riders, they were working on stepping the horse into a particular canter lead. We worked on that for a while.
The trainer then had the class do an exercise of cantering the length of the arena, doing a reverse roll back, returning on one lead, break to a trot, pick up the opposite canter and continue around. Buckshot and I did very well at our turn. I was proud of our work (which isn’t really as good as the regular reining horses, who are quite talented) but it was good work for us. That’s what matters the most to me- that Buckshot and I do well for what we can do.
The trainer then turned the class to a different exercise. I can see, he said, that we have something to work on. Many of you are having difficulty cantering/loping your horses in straight lines. So he gave us a pattern, of loping a straight line, stopping, backing, turning around and returning in another straight line. Buckshot and I did great at this exercise! I am really proud of us. We work a lot on straight lines at all gaits, and it showed. He really enjoyed this and worked hard with me. Then the class broke up, and we did a bit more work, followed by cooling him down at the walk. I took him to some grass, dismounted and let him graze. Then we walked back to our trailer where I untacked him, and rubbed him down in his sweaty spots. With his very long winter hair, he gets sweaty easily, so I carry a rag and wipe him vigorously where he is wet. I curry combed and brushed him, trying to help the sweat dry and not get matted. Lastly, I gave him some treats, thanked him gratefully for his work for me, and we loaded the horses and took them home. It was a wonderful day, and I was so proud of him!
Lastly, I have gotten Buckshot his Christmas present. I ordered him another saddle pad. Reinsman makes a tacky-too pad for swayback horses that works very well for Buckshot. His current Reinsman swayback pad is two years old and is still in pretty good shape. I decided to replace it anyway because the most important parts of this pad are the thick foam sections that bracket Buckshot’s spine, and I want that foam to be firm, and not lose any of its protection. So after two years of use, I decided to get him a new one. I plan to put a big bow on it and give it to him on Christmas Eve, probably with some extra treats. Buckshot will likely be more excited about the treats!
What are you going to give your horse for Christmas? Hope you had a wonderful weekend as well!
Clearly my camera is broken. The key features I need on a regular basis – the adjustment for a bad helmet day, and for a bad clothing day, and a bad posture day, and a look-too-fat day, all the critical camera adjustments- are broken! I need to take the camera to the repair shop! Ha Ha! I never realized my helmet makes me look like a marshmallow-head! Oh, heavens! I must get a better helmet! Buckshot looked good, but I looked, well, not very good at all. What was I thinking putting those photos on my blog? I must have been momentarily delusional. I thought about deleting them, but I decided to leave them up so others will feel like they look great! (Thank you to Juliette for her kind compliments – she may want to check her vision, though! Just kidding!) Some people are very photogenic, but I’m, well, not very photogenic. I wish I could get a professional photographer to take some pictures of Buckshot and me. That’s on my wish list. Well, now that I’ve gotten that off my chest and had a few good laughs from it, on to the weekend.
On Saturday, December 10, 2011, the Virginia weather was lovely- in the forties and sunny, with a clear, blue sky. I went to get Buckshot from his pasture using my new procedure. Yes, a new procedure. You see, a few weeks ago, something scary happened in the pasture. Buckshot and Lucky were way out in their pasture grazing when I went to get Buckshot that day.
I walked out to Buckshot, chatted with him, put his halter on, and proceeded to walk with him to the gate. Without warning, Lucky started cantering to us, and just as he passed us – too close for comfort – he kicked out powerfully with both hind legs! I was stunned! And scared! His hooves were just a few feet from me. Buckshot didn’t move, didn’t dance around, didn’t get nervous. But my adrenaline shot up as I realized just how close we both had come to a huge kick. I walked Buckshot silently to the gate, never taking my eye off of Lucky, who seemed to have calmed down as quickly as he had gotten excited.
We got out of the pasture and I talked softly to Buckshot, telling him that had really scared me, we had never had Lucky act so dangerously and it scared me to death. Buckshot lightly touched my hand holding the lead rope, in a comforting way. I took deep breaths and as the adrenaline diminished, I decided that I would need a new procedure for the future to protect us from such dangerous antics. I also reminded myself to never go into the pasture with Lucky without a lead line with me, just in case I need to twirl it to keep him away from me if he gets excited like that again. I also knew that I would need to devise a new method for getting Buckshot out of the pasture.
The next several times I went to get Buckshot he was near his barn, and was not out in the pasture, so I didn’t have to use my new procedure. But this past Saturday, it was time to implement it. They were both grazing out in the pasture. I got Buckshot’s halter and lead line and disconnected the lead line. I approached them both normally, calling to them when I am far away so that they would see me coming and not be startled by my approach, walking towards their sides, not their back ends, saying hello, and then going up to Buckshot to pet and greet him.
I put his halter on him but kept the lead line in my hands, not connected to the halter. I started walking toward the gate and he followed closely. I watched Lucky with a hawk eye. I kept the line in my hands so that I could twirl the non-clip end of it if needed (it wasn’t needed). The funny thing was that I think Buckshot thought the lead line was attached! He could see it in my hands near his face, but he didn’t know I was holding onto it for a different purpose. I swear he thought it was hooked to him! How funny! Anyway, that is my new, safer procedure for pasture safety. It worked fine with Buckshot so I think it is a good solution. I need a lead line in my hands. And I need it to not be connected to Buckshot for two reasons. One is if I need to twirl it in the event that Lucky canters too close to me. The second reason is that I want Buckshot to be able to run off freely if Lucky’s cantering bothers or excites him.
At Buckshot’s previous farm, he lived in a pasture with twelve or thirteen other horses, and there were a few times that I walked out to get him, and had several horses start running toward us as we walked to the gate. I learned then to be able to unhook the halter fast, really fast so that if they came up on Buckshot he could run if needed. But I realize now that unhooking the clip still takes time and I might not be fast enough if running horses are nearby. Plus I realize now that a running horse might feel like kicking out, and I could be in his kicking range. So I will be very, very alert to this now, and have a lead line to help if needed.
Back to Saturday. After I safely extricated Buckshot from his pasture, I took him over to his secret patch of heavenly grass we’ve found! Yes, right by the BO’s house is a patch of the greenest, emerald-looking, thick, rich, dense, prettiest grass you ever saw and for the past few weeks I have taken Buckshot there and let him eat to his heart’s content! He loves it! I stand and think my thoughts, and look around, and talk to him, and pet him, and check him for tiny injuries, and just stand and stand and stand, letting him just feast on this rare patch of lush grass. It is my gift to him for being such a wonderful horse. I hope it stays green and delicious for him for a long time.
After his special grazing, I took him to the barn and groomed him and tacked him up. Then we went out to the arena – good footing, hooray! – and started our walking warm up. His energy level was somewhat slow at first. The other student riders came out and we began our class. When we got to some trotting, Buckshot did well. And when we did a little bit of cantering, we were great! I was careful to support him on the turns by holding my inside leg against him and laying the rein over his neck, and he went around the turn without breaking gait. It was wonderful!
Then the class went on a long trail ride through the autumn woods, filled with the picture perfect mixture of crunchy leaves underfoot, cool air, and sunshine twinkling down from above. The only imperfection was the scent – in one swampy section, something had died and it smelled pretty rank. But none of the horses were bothered by the smell. We returned to the barn and dismounted. Buckshot was great!
On Sunday, we planned to go to a reining clinic at a nearby reining trainer’s farm. Just to brag a bit, this reining trainer, D, got back recently from the reining nationals finals in Oklahoma City and he had a great success there – in his class (which I guess was one of the professional classes), he tied with a few other competitors for 14th place. In the nation. Wow – that’s impressive! It was a great competition for him.
So, on Sunday morning, I got Buckshot from his pasture (no need for my new procedure since the horses were not out grazing) and walked him to the main barn, which meant we walked by the trailer sitting there. He did a few semi-loud snorts as we walked by it. I didn’t say anything, just kept thinking about how calm I was.
My theory is that my calmness, deep and confident calmness, even if I know that I am really a little nervous, but covered up and totally disguised with a deep, deep, all-encompassing sense of how very, very calm I am, will help Buckshot if he is nervous about something. I haven’t yet told you the story, the big, big story, of why this matters so much to me. It’s the story of the biggest, scariest thing that has ever happened with Buckshot, and it’s quite a story. You won’t believe it. I wouldn’t have believed it. The BO didn’t believe it. The vet didn’t believe it. But it happened. Buckshot did it. Well, I hope I have your interest peaked! That’s mean of me, I know. Sorry. I will share the story in my next post. I promise. And then you’ll know why acting calm when I think Buckshot is nervous has quite a significant backstory for us.
Anyway, back to today’s story (and I apologize for all my tangents). Buckshot loaded onto the trailer wonderfully (yes, I’m bragging about him again, sorry) along with two other horses and we drove the hour trip to the other farm. I got Buckshot tacked up and mounted and we started our warm up with energy. Buckshot seems to love being at this farm, and always walks energetically over to the mounting block. I got on, gave him his treat, and we walked off with eagerness. Maybe he likes the deep, soft footing of the big arena. Or maybe he likes seeing the other horses. Or maybe he is, like me, looking forward to the work and the cool weather and the wonderful sense of life and satisfaction from a good ride together. Whatever the cause, he seems to approach the clinic with happy anticipation.
We need a longer warm up than any of the other horses so the trainer started giving instruction as we were walking. When we joined up with the group of about eight horses and riders, they were working on stepping the horse into a particular canter lead. We worked on that for a while.
The trainer then had the class do an exercise of cantering the length of the arena, doing a reverse roll back, returning on one lead, break to a trot, pick up the opposite canter and continue around. Buckshot and I did very well at our turn. I was proud of our work (which isn’t really as good as the regular reining horses, who are quite talented) but it was good work for us. That’s what matters the most to me- that Buckshot and I do well for what we can do.
The trainer then turned the class to a different exercise. I can see, he said, that we have something to work on. Many of you are having difficulty cantering/loping your horses in straight lines. So he gave us a pattern, of loping a straight line, stopping, backing, turning around and returning in another straight line. Buckshot and I did great at this exercise! I am really proud of us. We work a lot on straight lines at all gaits, and it showed. He really enjoyed this and worked hard with me. Then the class broke up, and we did a bit more work, followed by cooling him down at the walk. I took him to some grass, dismounted and let him graze. Then we walked back to our trailer where I untacked him, and rubbed him down in his sweaty spots. With his very long winter hair, he gets sweaty easily, so I carry a rag and wipe him vigorously where he is wet. I curry combed and brushed him, trying to help the sweat dry and not get matted. Lastly, I gave him some treats, thanked him gratefully for his work for me, and we loaded the horses and took them home. It was a wonderful day, and I was so proud of him!
Lastly, I have gotten Buckshot his Christmas present. I ordered him another saddle pad. Reinsman makes a tacky-too pad for swayback horses that works very well for Buckshot. His current Reinsman swayback pad is two years old and is still in pretty good shape. I decided to replace it anyway because the most important parts of this pad are the thick foam sections that bracket Buckshot’s spine, and I want that foam to be firm, and not lose any of its protection. So after two years of use, I decided to get him a new one. I plan to put a big bow on it and give it to him on Christmas Eve, probably with some extra treats. Buckshot will likely be more excited about the treats!
What are you going to give your horse for Christmas? Hope you had a wonderful weekend as well!
Monday, November 7, 2011
A Long Weekend Filled with Horses!
I took last off from work last Thursday and Friday, so I had a nice long weekend. And the weather was beautiful! On Thursday, I went out to the barn and rode Buckshot- a wonderful day with him.
On Friday, I went to the Equine Extravaganza. At the John Lyons booth I had a chance to meet him and tell him how much I appreciate his work, his teachings and his horsemanship. I was thrilled to get to thank him in person, and let him know that there are horse owners appreciative of his work. He was very nice, shaking my hand with a firm grip, and answering with a modest, gracious demeanor. As I walked away, a little in awe, one of his coworkers walked with me, and she thanked me for my comments, saying it means a lot for him to hear such comments. I’m glad I thanked him. I also bought two of his books, which I am enjoying reading.
The BO and I looked at all of the other booths- we were more interested in the vendors than in the clinics this year- and oohed and aahed over lots of things. I didn’t spend very much money- I bought the two John Lyons books and a set of replacement leg straps for a horse blanket. It was a good day. In years past, I have gone to clinic after clinic and become exhausted from the walking and the listening and the shopping. Now I have adapted a more abbreviated strategy, and spend a shorter amount of time there, allowing me to enjoy myself more.
Oh, one other name drop- I met Jane Savoie also! I was in awe of her as well. I only talked to her for a minute and couldn’t think of anything interesting to say but it was a fun, awesome moment for me! I do appreciate that such famous clinicians travel to Virginia for the Equine Extravaganza.
On Saturday, the weather was perfect- sunny skies, in the fifties. The arenas had several sections with very muddy footing so the riding was a bit limited. We rode in the arena, and then went down the trail, to the other arena. After just a few minutes at the walk in the reining arena, we headed into another trail and then returned to the main arena. I coaxed Buckshot back into the arena to do more trotting work. We worked several times on rating; both at the walk and the trot. He responded well in both gaits.
He was in a good mood, so I decided to head down the farm road. So out the arena we rode. A few feet outside of the gate, Buckshot slowed, then stopped. I talked to him and got him walking and we went toward the road, and then, little by little, down the road. It took a lot of urging on my part, as Buckshot was uncertain about it. He walked a few steps as I squeezed, then when I relaxed my legs, he stopped totally. I said “walk on” and squeezed again. He walked two steps and stopped. I said “walk on, you’re doing fine, Buckshot” and he walked two steps. So it went like this for a while. I didn’t get angry at him. Eventually we walked further down the road than ever! When we reached a certain fence post, I stopped him (which wasn’t hard), turned him around, and – instantly, his forward energy returned! I praised him for his progress, and got him back to the barn and dismounted. Oh, I feared my legs would be sore the next day, though….
I do hope that I can get him to walk down the road comfortably eventually, without constant urging on my part. I want him to feel good about it and walk his normal walk. Next time, I think I will take treats and give them to him from the saddle as we go. That may help his motivation.
On Sunday, we had lovely weather again. We went to the reining trainer’s clinic. There were a lot of horses this time- about twelve horses and riders. We worked on an exercise for circling that helps to direct the horse to get the correct lead at the canter departure. For example, say you are working on the right lead departure, from the walk, as is the norm in reining (as opposed to the departure from the trot). I would lift the right rein up, open the door with my right foot (that is, lift my foot and lower leg away from the horse) and tap/kick with my left foot behind the girth, to get the horse moving in a circle to the right. Add the kiss when you are ready to do the canter.
I have forgotten what he said about how you are actually moving the hind legs in a particular manner that sets up for the canter. I think I want the left hind leg to move toward the right, to go under Buckshot’s belly, so that his right hind can, oh, no, that doesn’t sound correct. For a right lead canter, I want to free up the right front leg, but I am confused about what I want to do with the hind legs. For that, I remember the basic cue of tapping with my outside leg. Well, anyway, it worked well at the clinic and I’m looking forward to practicing it next weekend. When the clinic was over, I cooled Buckshot down with lots of walking and grazing, and then we loaded up our horses and returned to the farm. It was a great four day weekend for me!
Today, I imagine Buckshot is glad I had to go back to work and gave him the day off so he can recover from his hard work! Good boy! I hope you had a good weekend also!
On Friday, I went to the Equine Extravaganza. At the John Lyons booth I had a chance to meet him and tell him how much I appreciate his work, his teachings and his horsemanship. I was thrilled to get to thank him in person, and let him know that there are horse owners appreciative of his work. He was very nice, shaking my hand with a firm grip, and answering with a modest, gracious demeanor. As I walked away, a little in awe, one of his coworkers walked with me, and she thanked me for my comments, saying it means a lot for him to hear such comments. I’m glad I thanked him. I also bought two of his books, which I am enjoying reading.
The BO and I looked at all of the other booths- we were more interested in the vendors than in the clinics this year- and oohed and aahed over lots of things. I didn’t spend very much money- I bought the two John Lyons books and a set of replacement leg straps for a horse blanket. It was a good day. In years past, I have gone to clinic after clinic and become exhausted from the walking and the listening and the shopping. Now I have adapted a more abbreviated strategy, and spend a shorter amount of time there, allowing me to enjoy myself more.
Oh, one other name drop- I met Jane Savoie also! I was in awe of her as well. I only talked to her for a minute and couldn’t think of anything interesting to say but it was a fun, awesome moment for me! I do appreciate that such famous clinicians travel to Virginia for the Equine Extravaganza.
On Saturday, the weather was perfect- sunny skies, in the fifties. The arenas had several sections with very muddy footing so the riding was a bit limited. We rode in the arena, and then went down the trail, to the other arena. After just a few minutes at the walk in the reining arena, we headed into another trail and then returned to the main arena. I coaxed Buckshot back into the arena to do more trotting work. We worked several times on rating; both at the walk and the trot. He responded well in both gaits.
He was in a good mood, so I decided to head down the farm road. So out the arena we rode. A few feet outside of the gate, Buckshot slowed, then stopped. I talked to him and got him walking and we went toward the road, and then, little by little, down the road. It took a lot of urging on my part, as Buckshot was uncertain about it. He walked a few steps as I squeezed, then when I relaxed my legs, he stopped totally. I said “walk on” and squeezed again. He walked two steps and stopped. I said “walk on, you’re doing fine, Buckshot” and he walked two steps. So it went like this for a while. I didn’t get angry at him. Eventually we walked further down the road than ever! When we reached a certain fence post, I stopped him (which wasn’t hard), turned him around, and – instantly, his forward energy returned! I praised him for his progress, and got him back to the barn and dismounted. Oh, I feared my legs would be sore the next day, though….
I do hope that I can get him to walk down the road comfortably eventually, without constant urging on my part. I want him to feel good about it and walk his normal walk. Next time, I think I will take treats and give them to him from the saddle as we go. That may help his motivation.
On Sunday, we had lovely weather again. We went to the reining trainer’s clinic. There were a lot of horses this time- about twelve horses and riders. We worked on an exercise for circling that helps to direct the horse to get the correct lead at the canter departure. For example, say you are working on the right lead departure, from the walk, as is the norm in reining (as opposed to the departure from the trot). I would lift the right rein up, open the door with my right foot (that is, lift my foot and lower leg away from the horse) and tap/kick with my left foot behind the girth, to get the horse moving in a circle to the right. Add the kiss when you are ready to do the canter.
I have forgotten what he said about how you are actually moving the hind legs in a particular manner that sets up for the canter. I think I want the left hind leg to move toward the right, to go under Buckshot’s belly, so that his right hind can, oh, no, that doesn’t sound correct. For a right lead canter, I want to free up the right front leg, but I am confused about what I want to do with the hind legs. For that, I remember the basic cue of tapping with my outside leg. Well, anyway, it worked well at the clinic and I’m looking forward to practicing it next weekend. When the clinic was over, I cooled Buckshot down with lots of walking and grazing, and then we loaded up our horses and returned to the farm. It was a great four day weekend for me!
Today, I imagine Buckshot is glad I had to go back to work and gave him the day off so he can recover from his hard work! Good boy! I hope you had a good weekend also!
Monday, October 17, 2011
Lovely Times in Lovely October Weather
This past weekend (Oct. 14-16, 2011) I had three days of great times with Buckshot. I took off work on Friday and went out to the barn. It was a bit windy, but also sunny and mild. We had a good phase 1 walking warm up with Buckshot demonstrating some good energy. Then we did some trotting and cantering, also very nice. I asked the BO to watch me ride so she could observe Buckshot. She said that his gaits looked fine, with plenty of energy and no return of the discomfort Buckshot showed a week ago.
I continue to try and gain experience at the canter. I need a lot of saddle time, but have to temper my wishes with Buckshot’s needs and the conditions of weather and footing. I feel like I am improving, but at a very, very slow pace. I really have to be patient with this, but it is coming.
After our work in the arena, we rode with the BO and her horse down the farm road to the reining arena in the farm’s hay field. The arena itself was too soft to ride in so we instead rode in the hay field, verbally blocking off a section of the field that we would stay within. We rode for a good long time, at a nice working trot, with the breeze in my face, the breeze lifting Buckshot’s mane, the sun warming us both nicely, on a lovely October afternoon. It was a picture perfect ride! I tried a few canters and we did nicely at them. After this heavenly time in the field, with both horses enjoying the ride and behaving perfectly, we walked back down the road to the main arena and dismounted. The windy conditions prevented us from even going into the trail. I praised Buckshot and enjoyed the moments of pride and happiness and joy from such a wonderful horse and ride! What a great horse he is!
On Saturday, the day was much like Friday – sunny, mild, yet still windy. On Saturdays, the barn typically has a lot of riding students and classes. Buckshot and I participate in the 1:30 class, but I like to ride well in advance of the class, so we can do our warm up and work on a few things at the trot and canter.
After I got him tacked up, a class was in the main arena so I took him over to the round pen and mounted. Because the round pen is located next to two pastures, we often have an audience of horses watching us. I kept us at the walk and practiced both going around the pen, and walking across it in various formations to keep it interesting. When the main arena was empty, we walked over to it.
Another boarder asked to use the arena alone for a few minutes so Buckshot and I did some exploratory walking around various barns and grassy areas. He seems to really enjoy expanding his sights, slowly, not too fast, as we walk around. He’ll walk in one direction quite purposefully, and then stop, uncertain of what to do next. So I will immediately take the reins and lead him off in a different direction. In some areas we will trot, others we will stay at the walk.
Eventually, we returned to the arena and did more trotting, and also some cantering. When he has the left lead, he feels balanced and even to me. At the right lead, he feels much more slanted. It is hard to steer him when he has the right lead. I feel like I am pulling on him mouth quite strongly, and I don’t want to do that. I don’t know why the right lead feels so much different. Do you experience that as well? Do you use different aids for differing leads?
The class did some interesting patterns and we had fun. They were hard patterns, involving leading the horse around cones and to special markers, using trotting, cantering, stopping, backing, etc. Especially difficult was the final section- trotting down the long rail, after having done a bit of cantering. It is so hard to reduce the energy of the horse immediately after cantering. The instructor agreed that this part of the pattern was challenging. That is one of the reasons I like taking classes- I am more challenged by the instructor’s patterns and exercises than I would think, and they help me and Buckshot to grow and develop.
And the last day of my three day Buckshot weekend was wonderful – we went to a reining clinic and had a great time! From the moment I stepped into the stirrup and walked Buckshot out into the arena, Buckshot had an unusual energy and purpose. At our home barn, he will drag along at the beginning of our ride, and after some urging from me, will give a good working walk. At the reining clinic, however, he starts off right away with a good energetic walk. It is one of the reasons that I think he really likes going to the clinics. He also had such energy at the trot and canter I couldn’t believe it! He had so much vim and vigor I suspect he had been drinking gallons of V-8! We did great (for us) at the patterns and exercises the trainer had us do.
When the clinic was over, I dismounted, praised Buckshot and took him to some grass to graze. Then I walked him back to the trailer, tied him on the side, and proceeded to make a mess of untacking him. I couldn’t figure out how to get his bridle off, and attach the halter while the halter's lead line stayed tied to the trailer. Before I knew it, the bridle had fallen to the ground in front of Buckshot’s feet, he stepped on it and he had leather straps everywhich way. I internally was alarmed, hoping I could back him safely off of them before he realized it and panicked. As I struggled, he stepped on one of my feet, but I had to ignore it (except for getting him off my foot) until I got the straps and lead line and halter unraveled. Goodness, what a mess I made of it. I finally took the halter off of the trailer totally, and put the lead line around his neck for leverage. Then I got his bridle off, and the halter on. Boy- that is something I need more practice on! Then I got his saddle and pad off and we went off for a little grass. Later, we headed for home and I walked him back to his pasture with lots of praise and appreciation of his work!
I thoroughly enjoyed all three days with Buckshot and spending time with him, in his pasture when I loosened persimmons from the tree for him, or picking up poop, or just talking to him. And then riding him, he was in good form and didn’t have any problems. What a good horse he is! (And some recent photos are at the top, finally, some pictures!)
I want to thank the two bloggers who have recently given my blog the Lovely Blog Award- Arlene from Grey Horse Matters and Carol from Dressage Training Journal (both are fantastic blogs - see my links on the right). What an honor to receive this award. Thank you so much. I am working on doing the award steps – sharing seven things about myself personally and sharing some new blogs as well. Thank you again for your kindness!
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Another Rainy Weekend
Well, here I am tonight reading all my favorite blogs, and suddenly realized that I forgot to post my own blog last night! Ha- how could I have forgotten? Probably because all the other blogs are more interesting than mine! LOL! The weather here in Virginia has been non-stop cloudy, gloomy, overcast, rainy, drizzly, stormy, and downright humid. Weird weather. But at least it isn’t a hurricane this time!
This past weekend Buckshot and I had an okay time on Saturday. It was so humid that his energy was low and the arena was quite wet, so we did mostly walking, with just a little trotting. An okay ride, but nothing to write home about.
Then on Sunday, we loaded up four horses and, with an eye to our cloudy, unpredictable skies, went to the reining clinic. We had a good time, and did some interesting exercises. One exercise was fascinating to me. We started by using only one rein. Specifically, we were to make a large circle to the left, with our left hand holding the left rein, and our right hand and rein holding the horn. We could only use the single, left rein to steer. After one circle, the trainer had us change hands (but stay going in a left circle) so that our left hand and rein was on the horn, and the right hand used the right rein over the horse’s neck, as in neck reining.
It was amazing to me as I did it how much I could steer, even at the canter, using a single rein like this. Not only that, but after doing the large circle, we were instructed to do a smaller circle, guiding only with the right hand neck reining. Well, Buckshot and I did great! He steered very nicely with only one rein, and after our big circle, he did a wonderful smaller circle, at the canter, with the neck reining. I was thrilled at his slower canter and ability to steer into a smaller circle, which is something I’ve never been able to do. I can’t wait to try it out again and practice this single rein exercise some more. It’s as if our horses will do more than we ever imagine, if we try it in a new way. That discovery is one of the terrific benefits of lessons or clinics. I learn more about what Buckshot can do, and also what I am able to do. Wonderful.
Driving home, I thought about some of the moments of wonder with Buckshot. We do things with our horses that are ordinary, or unexciting, or necessary, and then, out of the blue, we sometimes have a wonderful moment with our horses. For me, these moments touch my heart and make me love Buckshot even more. I treasure these few moments because they may not come often but when they do, they are worth all of the mundane, humdrum things we go through.
Here are some of my “moments” from Sunday…. When Buckshot came off the trailer at the reining trainer’s farm, he was quiet and walked slowly over to some grass to nibble. Just a calm, serene moment spent with a calm, serene horse, who stayed by my side as I led him to some grass so he could stretch his legs. Quiet and touching.
Later, after we did the exercise I wrote about above, I felt such pride in Buckshot. He may not be impressive to anyone else, as he isn’t a reining horse nor do we compete, but his lovely performance and try when we do something totally new and out of the blue, and he does it well for me, makes my heart swell with appreciation for this wonderful horse. I am so lucky to have him.
After the clinic, we walked around to cool down and I saw some lovely green grass that I took Buckshot over to, then I dismounted and let him nibble. I love to get him the best grass possible to eat. LOL.
And lastly, after I untacked and rinsed him, and we had cleaned up around the trailer and put the tack away, I said, “let’s go home, Buckshot” and felt like he said, in tired horse words, yes, let’s go home. And then I handed him off to the BO’s husband to walk into the trailer, we hopped into the truck and we headed home. Such a nice feeling. Another quiet wonderful moment with Buckshot.
I love the small moments like that. They fill my heart with little horse-memory-jewels that I hope to treasure for a long time. They make me smile days later. They sustain and enrich me. I feel very lucky to have Buckshot as my horse, and to have these wonderful moments with him. Because you don’t always have them, nor can you make them happen at will. Sometimes you have other things to deal with about your horse. So I treasure them when they occur with Buckshot.
I hope you had some special moments with your horse last weekend.
This past weekend Buckshot and I had an okay time on Saturday. It was so humid that his energy was low and the arena was quite wet, so we did mostly walking, with just a little trotting. An okay ride, but nothing to write home about.
Then on Sunday, we loaded up four horses and, with an eye to our cloudy, unpredictable skies, went to the reining clinic. We had a good time, and did some interesting exercises. One exercise was fascinating to me. We started by using only one rein. Specifically, we were to make a large circle to the left, with our left hand holding the left rein, and our right hand and rein holding the horn. We could only use the single, left rein to steer. After one circle, the trainer had us change hands (but stay going in a left circle) so that our left hand and rein was on the horn, and the right hand used the right rein over the horse’s neck, as in neck reining.
It was amazing to me as I did it how much I could steer, even at the canter, using a single rein like this. Not only that, but after doing the large circle, we were instructed to do a smaller circle, guiding only with the right hand neck reining. Well, Buckshot and I did great! He steered very nicely with only one rein, and after our big circle, he did a wonderful smaller circle, at the canter, with the neck reining. I was thrilled at his slower canter and ability to steer into a smaller circle, which is something I’ve never been able to do. I can’t wait to try it out again and practice this single rein exercise some more. It’s as if our horses will do more than we ever imagine, if we try it in a new way. That discovery is one of the terrific benefits of lessons or clinics. I learn more about what Buckshot can do, and also what I am able to do. Wonderful.
Driving home, I thought about some of the moments of wonder with Buckshot. We do things with our horses that are ordinary, or unexciting, or necessary, and then, out of the blue, we sometimes have a wonderful moment with our horses. For me, these moments touch my heart and make me love Buckshot even more. I treasure these few moments because they may not come often but when they do, they are worth all of the mundane, humdrum things we go through.
Here are some of my “moments” from Sunday…. When Buckshot came off the trailer at the reining trainer’s farm, he was quiet and walked slowly over to some grass to nibble. Just a calm, serene moment spent with a calm, serene horse, who stayed by my side as I led him to some grass so he could stretch his legs. Quiet and touching.
Later, after we did the exercise I wrote about above, I felt such pride in Buckshot. He may not be impressive to anyone else, as he isn’t a reining horse nor do we compete, but his lovely performance and try when we do something totally new and out of the blue, and he does it well for me, makes my heart swell with appreciation for this wonderful horse. I am so lucky to have him.
After the clinic, we walked around to cool down and I saw some lovely green grass that I took Buckshot over to, then I dismounted and let him nibble. I love to get him the best grass possible to eat. LOL.
And lastly, after I untacked and rinsed him, and we had cleaned up around the trailer and put the tack away, I said, “let’s go home, Buckshot” and felt like he said, in tired horse words, yes, let’s go home. And then I handed him off to the BO’s husband to walk into the trailer, we hopped into the truck and we headed home. Such a nice feeling. Another quiet wonderful moment with Buckshot.
I love the small moments like that. They fill my heart with little horse-memory-jewels that I hope to treasure for a long time. They make me smile days later. They sustain and enrich me. I feel very lucky to have Buckshot as my horse, and to have these wonderful moments with him. Because you don’t always have them, nor can you make them happen at will. Sometimes you have other things to deal with about your horse. So I treasure them when they occur with Buckshot.
I hope you had some special moments with your horse last weekend.
Monday, August 22, 2011
Quiet Sharing....
This past weekend, August 20-21, I had a wonderful time with Buckshot. We had good weather, not too hot, humid, sunny, with fluffy clouds in the sky. On Saturday, we worked in the arena, and walked on the trail, and rode in the field arena. It was wonderful. I practiced my equitation – sit up, stretch from abdomen to neck, use good boobies, shoulders of a princess and hips of a whore, feel the horse. I practiced trotting and cantering, trying to give Buckshot the right amount of rein, keep my seat swinging in good rhythm with the saddle, steering, trying to calm and lead him while still learning the many facets of the canter. Wonderful.
And on Sunday, we went to a reining clinic at the reining trainer’s farm. There in his huge arena, we walked, and then trotted and then cantered. We rode straight into the fence, and quickly stopped, and backed up. We stopped from trot and from canter. Buckshot gave it his all, and came down from speed to a halt in his own capable way. One reason I love the clinics is because the trainer has me do things with Buckshot I never would do on my own, and we do great! I am amazed at what Buckshot can do, and at what I can do. That is one reason a trainer or an instructor is so invaluable. They can get more from me and Buckshot, and therefore prove that both of us can do more than I thought we can do. They challenge both of us in the best ways.
A few days ago, I was feeling reflective and I wrote the following thoughts. I call it “I Came to Love You Late.”
I Came to Love You Late
You see, dear horse, Buckshot, I am a latecomer to the world of horses. I was in my late forties when I discovered horses. That is so very late in life. It seems most of the people around me in the horse world were around horses very early in their lives. When they were children. Or perhaps teenagers. I think that few discover the magic of horses for the first time while in their twenties or thirties. But in their forties, like me? It sounds like old age.
But there it was. One innocent horse back riding lesson. On one quiet, dark fall night. At one obscure horse farm in the country. And I was hooked, drowned if you will, in the magic of horses. An animal both awesome in frame – big, very big, strong, no doubt, deadly – and magnificent in spirit – forgiving of an old person climbing on her back, talking out of nervousness, from twenty or thirty or fifty feet off of the ground. Yet a thread of something ethereal spun out of the mare’s heart, and wound its way to my heart, then around and around and around, until a horse-shaped growth appeared on my heart. And I have never been the same since.
So, dear Buckshot, this, eight or nine years later, is my prize. You. You are my prize. You are my first horse. Maybe the only horse I will ever own. I am so appreciative of you. How can I tell you how much you mean to me, my first horse. My most special horse. My most precious, special, unique horse. But I came to love you late in my life. That is why I don’t take you for granted. A young girl might say, well, someday I’ll have a better horse than I have now. Maybe I’ll have lots of horses over my life. So I will wait to love the best one, when I get him. Until then, this is just my today horse. Others are better. Someday I’ll have a better one.
But I don’t say that. I say, what a precious gift you are to me. You are my only horse. My first and special horse. Maybe the only horse I’ll ever have. You are worth three times, five times your weight in gold to me.
You captivate my heart and my mind. I wonder what you think when I am around you. The other day, as I was leading you down a road, you stopped at a very specific place, and you lightly touched my hand with your muzzle. You communicated to me. I think you were saying, this is a place you give me a treat. May I have a treat, please? And I am so touched, by your remembrance, and by your soft touch to my hand, that I give you a treat. You are happy. I am happy. We continue to walk.
Then a few more yards down this same road, your thoughts change. Something doesn’t seem right to you. We are in danger. And so you quickly and smoothly, without my realizing it, turn us around on the road. I hold the lead line softly, with a drape in it, so you are able to direct our feet with your smooth turn. I stop you. You are worried about going forward. I am puzzled. I know that the road isn’t dangerous. It is quiet. There are no cars on it. I have walked further on this road many times. But not with you.
This road, this section of road is new to you. You don’t know it yet. And it worries you. So you take our walk in your control and make sure we turn away from the danger. Communicating to me again. Softly, in your horse talk kind of way. With my limited communication I don’t know how to reassure you that the road is safe. So I gently ask you to walk a few more steps, and I promise you a treat. Pure bribery it is. I want you to trust me but I cannot say it well enough. So I use a treat. And because you know the word “treat” you trust me and walk on, a few more yards. But you are still worried. Your feet dance a bit, you try to turn us back around, away from the danger.
You must be in conflict. To get the treat, you must go through dangerous terrain. Oh, my. What a problem. What to do? Somewhere in your mind, you say to yourself, yes. A few more steps, just a few more steps. I hope she will then stop leading us into danger. And I do. I stop and give you a treat. And true to my word, I turn you around and we walk back. Away from danger and back to safety. You must breathe a huge sigh of relief. We are now going back to safety. You have saved me. But I made you go through such mental anguish, all for the promise of a horse cookie. And go you did. Not in a straight line, of course. But you went into the danger zone, and then ate the cookie. And then we retreated.
Oh, how I wish I could explain it to you, from my perspective. How I wish I could see and hear your perspective clearly. Yet, even with the limited communication, I still treasure these moments. When you whisper something to me, hoping that the ears of my heart will hear you. And if I am still, and look at you, and touch your neck, I might just hear you. And we communicate. It is magical. And precious and wonderful. This careful, whispering, subtle talking we do with each other.
How can I not love you, who give me such gifts like this. Gifts in the form of horse whisperings. Protecting me. Leading me away from danger. Trusting me all for a horse cookie. And walking softly at my shoulder, your breath grazing my hand and arm. How I love that feeling. Your warm breath, pulsing down softly onto my hand and arm, your head swinging lightly from the lead line. I long to touch your forehead and I do. I rub it gently and tell you, with my touch, you are a wonderful horse. Can you hear me?
I often imagine that Buckshot has a place inside of him, where he feels my love. He feels that he is loved and valued and it feels good to him. Similar to how it feels for him to graze and eat grass, or eat hay. After we eat, we feel full, and it is a good feeling. An eaten meal nurtures us from inside. We feel satisfied.
For a horse, eating the tiny bits they eat, all day long, is a need like ours. But theirs is born of their nomadic history; they must always be ready to move to another plain, or over a mountain range, without knowing if food is waiting. So they need to eat nearly constantly, small amounts, to enable them to survive the nomadic life of a horse. Even domesticated horses, that live with humans who feed them in feed tubs, and spread hay out in a pasture or a corral, feel the need to eat for nomadic life. I think it gives them both a physical sense of rightness and an accompanying sense of mental rightness. They can handle life; they are prepared to move if they have to. Competent, ready, able horse.
Somewhere in Buckshot, beside the heart or spleen, is a place where he can feel the emotions that humans give him. He can feel useful and important and needed. It is a good feeling, one that horses want to have. But it is one that humans have to give. I think that maybe it is something that horses treasure about us. That we make them feel important and valuable. Not all owners do so. If you don’t think about what your horse is thinking and needs, you might not attend to this at all. But I do.
I think, from all my interactions with Buckshot, that he loves to have a job to do and to do it well. He loves to be told “time for us to go to work, Buckshot!” and that inside of him, he rises up, stands straight and tall, and says “You bet! Let’s go!” And when we have done some work, whether it is ground work, or riding, or walking down a potentially dangerous road, I am careful and consistent to praise him and tell him “Good work, Buckshot! You did great!” and rub his neck and give him treats and tell him verbally how strong, or brave or wonderful he was. I think it feeds him on the inside to be praised and told he did well. He has a purpose, he has a job, and he does it often and well. He is a successful horse. I want him to feel that deep inside of him.
Buckshot lives with one other horse in a pasture. His pasturemate is named Lucky. Lucky isn’t ridden very often any more. He isn’t a reliable riding horse and so lives mostly in the pasture. I feel a bit guilty when I take Buckshot out of his pasture for our work and leave Lucky behind. I fear that Lucky doesn’t feel that same sense of successful horse-ship that I make sure Buckshot has. But I can’t worry about that.
Some horses get less attention and have less work to do than others. I hope their inner selves can accommodate that. I hope he isn’t jealous of Buckshot and the attention Buckshot gets. I occasionally treat Lucky in a special way, and groom him, or share Buckshot’s treats with him. And I always acknowledge Lucky with a greeting when I am in the pasture. I later tell him that Buckshot will be back in a little while. I hope it helps.
I know that horses have different types of owners. I am the way I am partly because I don’t take Buckshot for granted. After all, he is my only horse, and I don’t know how long I will be priviledged to have him in my life. Every day is special to me. But other horse owners have a different perspective. I know that. Mine is a unique horse journey. And Buckshot is the horse on my journey.
I wonder about choices given to horses. I read a wonderful book some time ago about a horse named Jim Key. He was able to count and answer questions that his owner posed to him. A truly remarkable horse. His owner took him around the country to different shows to demonstrate what Jim Key could do. But what I remember the most about their story was when the owner would turn to Jim Key and ask him if he wanted to go home. He let the horse answer. He allowed his horse to have choices. I am amazed by that.
Giving choices to a horse and seeing the response. So I have incorporated that into my journey with Buckshot. We often ride in an arena at the farm he lives at. Sometimes during our riding warm up I will take him into the center of the arena and stop, and give him a brief break. Then I noticed something. He would start to walk to the open gate. Slowly at first, then a little more purposefully. The first few times, really, the first many times he did this, I turned him around to stay in the arena. I was puzzled by his walking to the gate, but I knew we should stay in the arena.
Then one day, I decided to let him have a choice. I decided to let him walk on out of the arena and see where he would take us. It has been an amazing thing to do. The first few times he walked purposely out of the arena and stopped. He seemed confused and didn’t know which way to go. Other times he has led us back to one of the barns, specifically the barn where I groom him and tack him up. I didn’t let us walk into the barn because the doorway was too low. Yet how interesting that he wanted us to go back to the barn. Perhaps he wanted me to dismount. But I led him away from the barn entrance and back to the arena.
Sometimes now when we walk out of the arena, I will direct him to a specific area and ask for a circle. Then we may stop and stand for a few minutes. A few times I have ridden him down the farm road, but he gets nervous and doesn’t want to go very far. It’s the same road I mentioned above. What is amazing is that when I give him a choice, he takes it. He has some thoughts of going, somewhere. He may lose his purpose quickly, in which case, I take over and direct him to some specific area. Or he may know exactly where he wants to take us, like the barn, and I have to intervene lest my head get hit by a low doorway. He has ideas about these things. And he seems to like to be able to exercise some choices. How wonderful!
I think, perhaps naively, that these choices are part of our journey together. That he knows his person will sometimes let him lead us. I always keep an eye out for our safety and quickly take away his choices if they seem ill advised. But if there are no safety concerns, he is allowed to make choices for us. I hope that it gives him a gift of sorts. That I trust his judgment in a way. And like Jim Key was allowed to decide when it was time to end the traveling and go on home for a rest, Buckshot is allowed to decide to go see some new sights on his own as well. I think it is a developmental thing with horses. But I am relatively new to horses, and I am not really sure. I have never heard trainers or anyone else mention this. I guess it just isn’t talked about. Still, I am delighted to see what happens with this part of our journey.>
And on Sunday, we went to a reining clinic at the reining trainer’s farm. There in his huge arena, we walked, and then trotted and then cantered. We rode straight into the fence, and quickly stopped, and backed up. We stopped from trot and from canter. Buckshot gave it his all, and came down from speed to a halt in his own capable way. One reason I love the clinics is because the trainer has me do things with Buckshot I never would do on my own, and we do great! I am amazed at what Buckshot can do, and at what I can do. That is one reason a trainer or an instructor is so invaluable. They can get more from me and Buckshot, and therefore prove that both of us can do more than I thought we can do. They challenge both of us in the best ways.
A few days ago, I was feeling reflective and I wrote the following thoughts. I call it “I Came to Love You Late.”
I Came to Love You Late
You see, dear horse, Buckshot, I am a latecomer to the world of horses. I was in my late forties when I discovered horses. That is so very late in life. It seems most of the people around me in the horse world were around horses very early in their lives. When they were children. Or perhaps teenagers. I think that few discover the magic of horses for the first time while in their twenties or thirties. But in their forties, like me? It sounds like old age.
But there it was. One innocent horse back riding lesson. On one quiet, dark fall night. At one obscure horse farm in the country. And I was hooked, drowned if you will, in the magic of horses. An animal both awesome in frame – big, very big, strong, no doubt, deadly – and magnificent in spirit – forgiving of an old person climbing on her back, talking out of nervousness, from twenty or thirty or fifty feet off of the ground. Yet a thread of something ethereal spun out of the mare’s heart, and wound its way to my heart, then around and around and around, until a horse-shaped growth appeared on my heart. And I have never been the same since.
So, dear Buckshot, this, eight or nine years later, is my prize. You. You are my prize. You are my first horse. Maybe the only horse I will ever own. I am so appreciative of you. How can I tell you how much you mean to me, my first horse. My most special horse. My most precious, special, unique horse. But I came to love you late in my life. That is why I don’t take you for granted. A young girl might say, well, someday I’ll have a better horse than I have now. Maybe I’ll have lots of horses over my life. So I will wait to love the best one, when I get him. Until then, this is just my today horse. Others are better. Someday I’ll have a better one.
But I don’t say that. I say, what a precious gift you are to me. You are my only horse. My first and special horse. Maybe the only horse I’ll ever have. You are worth three times, five times your weight in gold to me.
You captivate my heart and my mind. I wonder what you think when I am around you. The other day, as I was leading you down a road, you stopped at a very specific place, and you lightly touched my hand with your muzzle. You communicated to me. I think you were saying, this is a place you give me a treat. May I have a treat, please? And I am so touched, by your remembrance, and by your soft touch to my hand, that I give you a treat. You are happy. I am happy. We continue to walk.
Then a few more yards down this same road, your thoughts change. Something doesn’t seem right to you. We are in danger. And so you quickly and smoothly, without my realizing it, turn us around on the road. I hold the lead line softly, with a drape in it, so you are able to direct our feet with your smooth turn. I stop you. You are worried about going forward. I am puzzled. I know that the road isn’t dangerous. It is quiet. There are no cars on it. I have walked further on this road many times. But not with you.
This road, this section of road is new to you. You don’t know it yet. And it worries you. So you take our walk in your control and make sure we turn away from the danger. Communicating to me again. Softly, in your horse talk kind of way. With my limited communication I don’t know how to reassure you that the road is safe. So I gently ask you to walk a few more steps, and I promise you a treat. Pure bribery it is. I want you to trust me but I cannot say it well enough. So I use a treat. And because you know the word “treat” you trust me and walk on, a few more yards. But you are still worried. Your feet dance a bit, you try to turn us back around, away from the danger.
You must be in conflict. To get the treat, you must go through dangerous terrain. Oh, my. What a problem. What to do? Somewhere in your mind, you say to yourself, yes. A few more steps, just a few more steps. I hope she will then stop leading us into danger. And I do. I stop and give you a treat. And true to my word, I turn you around and we walk back. Away from danger and back to safety. You must breathe a huge sigh of relief. We are now going back to safety. You have saved me. But I made you go through such mental anguish, all for the promise of a horse cookie. And go you did. Not in a straight line, of course. But you went into the danger zone, and then ate the cookie. And then we retreated.
Oh, how I wish I could explain it to you, from my perspective. How I wish I could see and hear your perspective clearly. Yet, even with the limited communication, I still treasure these moments. When you whisper something to me, hoping that the ears of my heart will hear you. And if I am still, and look at you, and touch your neck, I might just hear you. And we communicate. It is magical. And precious and wonderful. This careful, whispering, subtle talking we do with each other.
How can I not love you, who give me such gifts like this. Gifts in the form of horse whisperings. Protecting me. Leading me away from danger. Trusting me all for a horse cookie. And walking softly at my shoulder, your breath grazing my hand and arm. How I love that feeling. Your warm breath, pulsing down softly onto my hand and arm, your head swinging lightly from the lead line. I long to touch your forehead and I do. I rub it gently and tell you, with my touch, you are a wonderful horse. Can you hear me?
I often imagine that Buckshot has a place inside of him, where he feels my love. He feels that he is loved and valued and it feels good to him. Similar to how it feels for him to graze and eat grass, or eat hay. After we eat, we feel full, and it is a good feeling. An eaten meal nurtures us from inside. We feel satisfied.
For a horse, eating the tiny bits they eat, all day long, is a need like ours. But theirs is born of their nomadic history; they must always be ready to move to another plain, or over a mountain range, without knowing if food is waiting. So they need to eat nearly constantly, small amounts, to enable them to survive the nomadic life of a horse. Even domesticated horses, that live with humans who feed them in feed tubs, and spread hay out in a pasture or a corral, feel the need to eat for nomadic life. I think it gives them both a physical sense of rightness and an accompanying sense of mental rightness. They can handle life; they are prepared to move if they have to. Competent, ready, able horse.
Somewhere in Buckshot, beside the heart or spleen, is a place where he can feel the emotions that humans give him. He can feel useful and important and needed. It is a good feeling, one that horses want to have. But it is one that humans have to give. I think that maybe it is something that horses treasure about us. That we make them feel important and valuable. Not all owners do so. If you don’t think about what your horse is thinking and needs, you might not attend to this at all. But I do.
I think, from all my interactions with Buckshot, that he loves to have a job to do and to do it well. He loves to be told “time for us to go to work, Buckshot!” and that inside of him, he rises up, stands straight and tall, and says “You bet! Let’s go!” And when we have done some work, whether it is ground work, or riding, or walking down a potentially dangerous road, I am careful and consistent to praise him and tell him “Good work, Buckshot! You did great!” and rub his neck and give him treats and tell him verbally how strong, or brave or wonderful he was. I think it feeds him on the inside to be praised and told he did well. He has a purpose, he has a job, and he does it often and well. He is a successful horse. I want him to feel that deep inside of him.
Buckshot lives with one other horse in a pasture. His pasturemate is named Lucky. Lucky isn’t ridden very often any more. He isn’t a reliable riding horse and so lives mostly in the pasture. I feel a bit guilty when I take Buckshot out of his pasture for our work and leave Lucky behind. I fear that Lucky doesn’t feel that same sense of successful horse-ship that I make sure Buckshot has. But I can’t worry about that.
Some horses get less attention and have less work to do than others. I hope their inner selves can accommodate that. I hope he isn’t jealous of Buckshot and the attention Buckshot gets. I occasionally treat Lucky in a special way, and groom him, or share Buckshot’s treats with him. And I always acknowledge Lucky with a greeting when I am in the pasture. I later tell him that Buckshot will be back in a little while. I hope it helps.
I know that horses have different types of owners. I am the way I am partly because I don’t take Buckshot for granted. After all, he is my only horse, and I don’t know how long I will be priviledged to have him in my life. Every day is special to me. But other horse owners have a different perspective. I know that. Mine is a unique horse journey. And Buckshot is the horse on my journey.
I wonder about choices given to horses. I read a wonderful book some time ago about a horse named Jim Key. He was able to count and answer questions that his owner posed to him. A truly remarkable horse. His owner took him around the country to different shows to demonstrate what Jim Key could do. But what I remember the most about their story was when the owner would turn to Jim Key and ask him if he wanted to go home. He let the horse answer. He allowed his horse to have choices. I am amazed by that.
Giving choices to a horse and seeing the response. So I have incorporated that into my journey with Buckshot. We often ride in an arena at the farm he lives at. Sometimes during our riding warm up I will take him into the center of the arena and stop, and give him a brief break. Then I noticed something. He would start to walk to the open gate. Slowly at first, then a little more purposefully. The first few times, really, the first many times he did this, I turned him around to stay in the arena. I was puzzled by his walking to the gate, but I knew we should stay in the arena.
Then one day, I decided to let him have a choice. I decided to let him walk on out of the arena and see where he would take us. It has been an amazing thing to do. The first few times he walked purposely out of the arena and stopped. He seemed confused and didn’t know which way to go. Other times he has led us back to one of the barns, specifically the barn where I groom him and tack him up. I didn’t let us walk into the barn because the doorway was too low. Yet how interesting that he wanted us to go back to the barn. Perhaps he wanted me to dismount. But I led him away from the barn entrance and back to the arena.
Sometimes now when we walk out of the arena, I will direct him to a specific area and ask for a circle. Then we may stop and stand for a few minutes. A few times I have ridden him down the farm road, but he gets nervous and doesn’t want to go very far. It’s the same road I mentioned above. What is amazing is that when I give him a choice, he takes it. He has some thoughts of going, somewhere. He may lose his purpose quickly, in which case, I take over and direct him to some specific area. Or he may know exactly where he wants to take us, like the barn, and I have to intervene lest my head get hit by a low doorway. He has ideas about these things. And he seems to like to be able to exercise some choices. How wonderful!
I think, perhaps naively, that these choices are part of our journey together. That he knows his person will sometimes let him lead us. I always keep an eye out for our safety and quickly take away his choices if they seem ill advised. But if there are no safety concerns, he is allowed to make choices for us. I hope that it gives him a gift of sorts. That I trust his judgment in a way. And like Jim Key was allowed to decide when it was time to end the traveling and go on home for a rest, Buckshot is allowed to decide to go see some new sights on his own as well. I think it is a developmental thing with horses. But I am relatively new to horses, and I am not really sure. I have never heard trainers or anyone else mention this. I guess it just isn’t talked about. Still, I am delighted to see what happens with this part of our journey.>
Monday, July 18, 2011
Exciting July Weekend!
This past weekend – July 16-17 – had some wonderful Buckshot moments in them. I’ll give a few of the Saturday highlights and share a little bit more about Sunday. First, Buckshot’s rain rot has been cleared up! Hooray! I gave him a bath after our Saturday ride, with the medicated shampoo. When his hair is wet, it is silky smooth and I can feel every tiny bump on him, and his bumps have gone! It has taken two months of daily treatment, weekly shampoos and tool cleaning, but it has finally cleared up.
The other highlight to mention has to do with Buckshot’s new sense of exploration. As we did our walking warm up, we stopped in the center at one point. After a moment of standing still, he began to drift over to the open gate. I let him go, to see where he wanted to go. We walked out of the arena, he took a left turn and walked by the closest barn. As we neared the second barn, where he and I do his grooming, he turned in toward it. I could see the barn doorway was at my eye level, so I gently steered him away, and turned him around, to which he responded willingly. But I had to laugh and wonder, why did he want to ride back into the barn? We have never ridden into the barn, naturally. (Now that I think about it, at the barn we used to be at, and which he lived at for years, it wasn’t uncommon for riders to ride in the barn aisle. The aisle was very broad and very, very tall.) How funny that he wanted us to ride right into the barn!
Here is the exciting thing – we then went back to the arena and did a few more minutes of work, and then I decided we’d go exploring down the farm road! This is the road that leads to the farm’s other arena, off in a distant hay field. I haven’t been able to get Buckshot to go down the road by ourselves yet, either riding or in hand. But with his newfound confidence, I decided to try it. We headed to the road. I could sense a bit of uncertainty on Buckshot’s part – he wasn’t walking with quite as much purpose as when he was walking us to the barn. But he listened to me and we started down the road. At about one-third of the way down, he made a left turn and detoured toward a pasture gate. So without missing a beat, I led him in that direction and then turned him back toward the original arena. No argument, no discussion. If that was as far as he wanted to go, on that day, well, that was fine with me. Next weekend we’ll go farther, I’m sure. So back to the arena we went, and continued our work and our riding. We had a great ride, overall we rode for two-plus hours! Buckshot had good energy at the trot and the canter. So it was a great day for us! Good boy, Buckshot!
On Sunday we were scheduled to go to the reining clinic. When we first started going, many months ago, I would walk Buckshot by the already-in-position trailer, in route to the barn for grooming. He would snort or blow when he saw the trailer. After grooming him, he had a lot of energy. Excitement energy? Worried energy? I couldn’t tell. But I addressed it by taking him in the arena and doing a lot of little exercises in hand. Circles, backing, walking in squares, walking diagonal lines, anything and everything I could think of. And it definitely helped. It got his mind on what we were doing and off of the big trailer nearby. Then, and this was, again, in the early days of going to the trainer’s, as I walked him to the trailer, where the BOH was waiting to walk him into his partition, he would start trotting and partially prancing. He would get on the ramp and stop, and after about 1-2 minutes of just standing there (no snorting, no quivering, no resistance, just standing still), he would walk forward calmly and get into his partition.
It is so interesting to me, now that we have done this twelve to fifteen or more times, how he is different. Now, when we walk by the trailer, he doesn’t snort. He does make the tiniest blow sound, barely a normal blow sound. After we groom, we go out to the arena and he has just a bit more energy. We do our exercises and stay busy until it is time to load. He seems very calm. But as I walk him over to the loading ramp, and to the BOH, he still does the partial trotting, partial prancing thing. Then he walks onto the ramp, stops for appx 1 minute and walks in calmly. He is funny. But I really appreciate how easily he loads. Recently I saw some other horses being loaded and they were quite a handful! After that, I remembered how wonderfully easy Buckshot is to load and I so appreciate it about him! Good, good boy!
At the reining clinic, the trainer wanted all of the participants to go, one at a time, into his round pen and lope without reins. The idea was to help us feel the rhythm of our horse’s canter, without the diversion of reins, to help us with our seats. After watching the first rider do a great job at this, it was Buckshot and my turn. We walked through the many-chuted configuration of pens (Buckshot did fine going through these tight quarters), to the gate, which had a pipe frame overhead. Buckshot went a little quickly through the gate, and I bumped my head good on the pipe overhead. But, luckily, my helmet took the hit, not me. Hooray for helmets! (And as an aside, I do wear my helmet even when riding with the other western riders, none of whom wear helmets. I remember one day a few months ago, at the clinic, and I realized of all the riders there – about 8 or 10 – I was the only one wearing a helmet. For a moment, I felt conspicuous, but I shrugged it off. I am a committed helmet wearer, and plan to always be one.)
Anyway, back to the story. I’m going off on so many tangents, sorry.
Well, Buckshot and I were in what seemed like a teeny-tiny round pen. The trainer is very nice and accommodates Buckshot’s age and if needed, limited capabilities, and so he said to me to just do whatever I felt comfortable doing in the round pen. I wanted to lope, without reins! That’s what I wanted to do! But I’ve never successfully cantered Buckshot in a round pen for more than just a few strides, and sadly, we’ve never really loped, that beautiful, slow, controlled canter that these reining horses do so nicely. We just canter- strong canter. I know as I develop my skills at the canter, we may be able to do a more controlled canter, but it isn’t in my repertoire just yet. But maybe this was the day, I thought hopefully! I started Buckshot trotting and he did well, and then I kissed and tried to get the canter, and, well, it fizzled. I only got a few strides from him and they seemed to me to be so fast, and he seemed to be running right into the pen sides, and well, suffice it to say, we didn’t lope. But we did what we could, so I didn’t feel too badly about it.
We left the round pen and went to stand with the other horses and riders. A few minutes later, I guided Buckshot over to the arena (and this reining arena is very, very big), and decided to just practice our canter. We cantered quite well, one time we went all the way around it, with me keeping a good, decent seat and steering him! Wow! It was wonderful! We did a bit more cantering after a break, and I felt it was just such a great day for us. We did accomplish some good work, even if it wasn’t in the round pen.
Later in the class, we were at sort of a break, and I decided to take Buckshot back into the round pen and try the lope again. We wove our way through the pens and to the gate and again, Buckshot slid into the pen quickly. I walked him around the pen and could instantly feel his nervousness. He just didn’t seem comfortable in the round pen at all this time. I don’t understand why, but regardless of knowing why it bothered him, I rode him out and back to the arena. His nervousness immediately went away. Still, overall, it was a wonderful day and weekend for us – with some new adventures and great riding work done, and rain rot gone! I hope you had a wonderful weekend with your horses as well!
The other highlight to mention has to do with Buckshot’s new sense of exploration. As we did our walking warm up, we stopped in the center at one point. After a moment of standing still, he began to drift over to the open gate. I let him go, to see where he wanted to go. We walked out of the arena, he took a left turn and walked by the closest barn. As we neared the second barn, where he and I do his grooming, he turned in toward it. I could see the barn doorway was at my eye level, so I gently steered him away, and turned him around, to which he responded willingly. But I had to laugh and wonder, why did he want to ride back into the barn? We have never ridden into the barn, naturally. (Now that I think about it, at the barn we used to be at, and which he lived at for years, it wasn’t uncommon for riders to ride in the barn aisle. The aisle was very broad and very, very tall.) How funny that he wanted us to ride right into the barn!
Here is the exciting thing – we then went back to the arena and did a few more minutes of work, and then I decided we’d go exploring down the farm road! This is the road that leads to the farm’s other arena, off in a distant hay field. I haven’t been able to get Buckshot to go down the road by ourselves yet, either riding or in hand. But with his newfound confidence, I decided to try it. We headed to the road. I could sense a bit of uncertainty on Buckshot’s part – he wasn’t walking with quite as much purpose as when he was walking us to the barn. But he listened to me and we started down the road. At about one-third of the way down, he made a left turn and detoured toward a pasture gate. So without missing a beat, I led him in that direction and then turned him back toward the original arena. No argument, no discussion. If that was as far as he wanted to go, on that day, well, that was fine with me. Next weekend we’ll go farther, I’m sure. So back to the arena we went, and continued our work and our riding. We had a great ride, overall we rode for two-plus hours! Buckshot had good energy at the trot and the canter. So it was a great day for us! Good boy, Buckshot!
On Sunday we were scheduled to go to the reining clinic. When we first started going, many months ago, I would walk Buckshot by the already-in-position trailer, in route to the barn for grooming. He would snort or blow when he saw the trailer. After grooming him, he had a lot of energy. Excitement energy? Worried energy? I couldn’t tell. But I addressed it by taking him in the arena and doing a lot of little exercises in hand. Circles, backing, walking in squares, walking diagonal lines, anything and everything I could think of. And it definitely helped. It got his mind on what we were doing and off of the big trailer nearby. Then, and this was, again, in the early days of going to the trainer’s, as I walked him to the trailer, where the BOH was waiting to walk him into his partition, he would start trotting and partially prancing. He would get on the ramp and stop, and after about 1-2 minutes of just standing there (no snorting, no quivering, no resistance, just standing still), he would walk forward calmly and get into his partition.
It is so interesting to me, now that we have done this twelve to fifteen or more times, how he is different. Now, when we walk by the trailer, he doesn’t snort. He does make the tiniest blow sound, barely a normal blow sound. After we groom, we go out to the arena and he has just a bit more energy. We do our exercises and stay busy until it is time to load. He seems very calm. But as I walk him over to the loading ramp, and to the BOH, he still does the partial trotting, partial prancing thing. Then he walks onto the ramp, stops for appx 1 minute and walks in calmly. He is funny. But I really appreciate how easily he loads. Recently I saw some other horses being loaded and they were quite a handful! After that, I remembered how wonderfully easy Buckshot is to load and I so appreciate it about him! Good, good boy!
At the reining clinic, the trainer wanted all of the participants to go, one at a time, into his round pen and lope without reins. The idea was to help us feel the rhythm of our horse’s canter, without the diversion of reins, to help us with our seats. After watching the first rider do a great job at this, it was Buckshot and my turn. We walked through the many-chuted configuration of pens (Buckshot did fine going through these tight quarters), to the gate, which had a pipe frame overhead. Buckshot went a little quickly through the gate, and I bumped my head good on the pipe overhead. But, luckily, my helmet took the hit, not me. Hooray for helmets! (And as an aside, I do wear my helmet even when riding with the other western riders, none of whom wear helmets. I remember one day a few months ago, at the clinic, and I realized of all the riders there – about 8 or 10 – I was the only one wearing a helmet. For a moment, I felt conspicuous, but I shrugged it off. I am a committed helmet wearer, and plan to always be one.)
Anyway, back to the story. I’m going off on so many tangents, sorry.
Well, Buckshot and I were in what seemed like a teeny-tiny round pen. The trainer is very nice and accommodates Buckshot’s age and if needed, limited capabilities, and so he said to me to just do whatever I felt comfortable doing in the round pen. I wanted to lope, without reins! That’s what I wanted to do! But I’ve never successfully cantered Buckshot in a round pen for more than just a few strides, and sadly, we’ve never really loped, that beautiful, slow, controlled canter that these reining horses do so nicely. We just canter- strong canter. I know as I develop my skills at the canter, we may be able to do a more controlled canter, but it isn’t in my repertoire just yet. But maybe this was the day, I thought hopefully! I started Buckshot trotting and he did well, and then I kissed and tried to get the canter, and, well, it fizzled. I only got a few strides from him and they seemed to me to be so fast, and he seemed to be running right into the pen sides, and well, suffice it to say, we didn’t lope. But we did what we could, so I didn’t feel too badly about it.
We left the round pen and went to stand with the other horses and riders. A few minutes later, I guided Buckshot over to the arena (and this reining arena is very, very big), and decided to just practice our canter. We cantered quite well, one time we went all the way around it, with me keeping a good, decent seat and steering him! Wow! It was wonderful! We did a bit more cantering after a break, and I felt it was just such a great day for us. We did accomplish some good work, even if it wasn’t in the round pen.
Later in the class, we were at sort of a break, and I decided to take Buckshot back into the round pen and try the lope again. We wove our way through the pens and to the gate and again, Buckshot slid into the pen quickly. I walked him around the pen and could instantly feel his nervousness. He just didn’t seem comfortable in the round pen at all this time. I don’t understand why, but regardless of knowing why it bothered him, I rode him out and back to the arena. His nervousness immediately went away. Still, overall, it was a wonderful day and weekend for us – with some new adventures and great riding work done, and rain rot gone! I hope you had a wonderful weekend with your horses as well!
Monday, January 31, 2011
Weekend Surprises and Discoveries.....
This past weekend, late January, offered up two very pleasant mid-winter days. Saturday had pleasant temperatures in the forties, no sign of any rain or snow, and sun peeking through some clouds. The kind of day where I arrived at the barn fully layered up in shirts, fleece, vest and jacket, and proceeded to take one off, then another, then put something back on, hat on, earmuffs off, hat off, gloves off then on- that kind of day. The main arena was usable; a little wet, but not frozen solid, so it was usable.
Good news awaited: the BO said we’d go to the reining trainer’s farm the next day for a clinic. But-surprise!- she couldn’t go; she needed to stay and have her regularly scheduled lessons as many students were dying to ride in non-arctic conditions. (Oh, no, I thought. She is the expert, my mainstay, the person I know I can rely on to handle anything that comes up with Buckshot or any horse, the person I can turn to for anything. I felt unmoored when she told me she couldn’t go. What would I do if anything comes up? I was worried, but I didn’t say anything. I told myself that the BOHusband is an expert horseman and could also handle anything that comes up, but you know the feeling, oh, my ….)
I turned my attention to Buckshot - went on to play with him, groomed him, tacked him up and we walked in the soft arena. The rest of the class prepared their horses and we walked in the arena until time for the class to go out on the trail. A lovely trail ride; Buckshot was calm, happy. We arrived at the field arena and found its footing to be quite nice. Since we had been walking for over twenty minutes, I trotted Buckshot. He felt good under me; I think he felt good in himself.
In the back of my mind, a quandary floated. If the BO didn’t go with us to the reining farm, how would I tack him up at the reining farm? She had helped me last time, by tacking him while I held his lead line. It took both of us to do it. I hadn’t yet tied him to the trailer as the other horses did, because, well, I didn’t know how he would do being tied, and I wasn’t too willing to try it. But as I rode him on Saturday, a lovely, calm, sunny day, I thought, well, today would be a good day to practice tying him and tacking him up by the trailer. Everything is calm, lovely, without problems. Yes, today, I will do it! I will practice with him! I will summon up my best trainer-attitude – yes, of course, we will get this done, and if something comes up, we’ll deal with it successfully and creatively, but overall, Buckshot is a good, reliable horse, it’s just been my apprehensions that have prevented me from addressing this, so today, I will, we will. And we did.
After the ride, I got our halter, lead line, a bag of carrot pieces, and a bag of apple pieces and led him over to the trailer, telling him that we had a bit more work to do before we were done. I first had to figure out how to get the bridle off, and the halter on, without any help. Well, it wasn’t very smooth, and once Buckshot realized there was grass all around his feet, well, he was very distracted.
But I got it done, and tied him to the trailer. No panic, no pulling back. Good boy! I took off his saddle and pad and laid them on the ground. Then gave him treats. Good boy. Then I put the pad and saddle back on him. And I got his bridle back on him, and the halter off of him, again, in a confusing maze of leather and cotton lines, trying hard to keep them separate, and keep him from eating, and stay calm, but in the end, he was tacked up again. We walked around for a moment, and then back to the trailer. We did it again, and more treats. He did fine, and when I finally led him back to the barn to really get untacked, I was very proud of both of us. We had done it! Practiced tying at the trailer, and tacking up! Great discovery, about Buckshot, and about myself- I am able to move beyond my apprehensions of something new with him, and channel a calm, trainer-like attitude! Great self discovery!
The other thing I had to learn on Saturday was the correct safety steps of loading and unloading horses on the trailer (something I had always left to the expert BO). She explained them to me, and Saturday night I went over them in my mind several times to commit them to memory. I wanted to be able to competently help the BOHusband on Sunday.
Sunday went great! I got Buckshot groomed, and I didn’t panic when he started to blow at first sight of the trailer, or when he appeared nervous during grooming. I stayed calm and remembered that a little nervousness of the horse is fine and doesn’t mean he is getting agitated. He acted reticent just a tiny bit as the BOH loaded him on the trailer, along with two other horses.
But after we arrived at the reining farm, he came off the trailer fine and I walked him around competently, and then tied him and proceeded to tack him up. I had to ask the BOH for help getting him bridled but that was fine. And Buckshot definitely didn’t want to stand still when I tightened the girth (need to revisit our clicker training on this again), but we got it done, and got mounted and walking in the arena.
We had a great clinic; after our twenty minute walking, we did some good trotting and some good cantering. I didn’t do very well at all on the canter to the right; I was stiff as a board and pulling on the reins and didn’t feel I had any control going to the right. I will have to work on that, when we are able to canter again. But I did very well at the canter to the left, and I felt great about it (since we hadn’t cantered in weeks). Overall, it was a great session.
When we were finished, Buckshot’s chest area was wet with sweat; since he has a long coat, he sweats easily. I had thought ahead to bring a curry comb and brush so I brushed him. I wish I had thought to bring a towel as well, to try and dry him a bit. After I got the bridle off, and the lead line was around his neck, he used all one thousand pounds to easily drag me over to some grass he absolutely had to nibble on. I tugged, and tugged, and realized that it’s all in the positioning. I moved the lead line up behind his ears, and then I was able to gently steer him back to the trailer to remove the saddle. Then we walked back to the grass and he nibbled happily. We got back in the trailer (with me remembering all the new steps!) and had a tired, but happy ride back to the farm. I got a tired but strong Buckshot out of the trailer and we went back to his home pasture, where he immediately walked purposefully over to just the right spot, and down he went, to roll. And my “aging” horse even rolled all the way over! How cute! I hope he isn’t too sore today!
It was a good weekend where I discovered a few valuable strengths in me, and more good things about Buckshot. He’s a good horse. And I’m still learning. (LOL)
Good news awaited: the BO said we’d go to the reining trainer’s farm the next day for a clinic. But-surprise!- she couldn’t go; she needed to stay and have her regularly scheduled lessons as many students were dying to ride in non-arctic conditions. (Oh, no, I thought. She is the expert, my mainstay, the person I know I can rely on to handle anything that comes up with Buckshot or any horse, the person I can turn to for anything. I felt unmoored when she told me she couldn’t go. What would I do if anything comes up? I was worried, but I didn’t say anything. I told myself that the BOHusband is an expert horseman and could also handle anything that comes up, but you know the feeling, oh, my ….)
I turned my attention to Buckshot - went on to play with him, groomed him, tacked him up and we walked in the soft arena. The rest of the class prepared their horses and we walked in the arena until time for the class to go out on the trail. A lovely trail ride; Buckshot was calm, happy. We arrived at the field arena and found its footing to be quite nice. Since we had been walking for over twenty minutes, I trotted Buckshot. He felt good under me; I think he felt good in himself.
In the back of my mind, a quandary floated. If the BO didn’t go with us to the reining farm, how would I tack him up at the reining farm? She had helped me last time, by tacking him while I held his lead line. It took both of us to do it. I hadn’t yet tied him to the trailer as the other horses did, because, well, I didn’t know how he would do being tied, and I wasn’t too willing to try it. But as I rode him on Saturday, a lovely, calm, sunny day, I thought, well, today would be a good day to practice tying him and tacking him up by the trailer. Everything is calm, lovely, without problems. Yes, today, I will do it! I will practice with him! I will summon up my best trainer-attitude – yes, of course, we will get this done, and if something comes up, we’ll deal with it successfully and creatively, but overall, Buckshot is a good, reliable horse, it’s just been my apprehensions that have prevented me from addressing this, so today, I will, we will. And we did.
After the ride, I got our halter, lead line, a bag of carrot pieces, and a bag of apple pieces and led him over to the trailer, telling him that we had a bit more work to do before we were done. I first had to figure out how to get the bridle off, and the halter on, without any help. Well, it wasn’t very smooth, and once Buckshot realized there was grass all around his feet, well, he was very distracted.
But I got it done, and tied him to the trailer. No panic, no pulling back. Good boy! I took off his saddle and pad and laid them on the ground. Then gave him treats. Good boy. Then I put the pad and saddle back on him. And I got his bridle back on him, and the halter off of him, again, in a confusing maze of leather and cotton lines, trying hard to keep them separate, and keep him from eating, and stay calm, but in the end, he was tacked up again. We walked around for a moment, and then back to the trailer. We did it again, and more treats. He did fine, and when I finally led him back to the barn to really get untacked, I was very proud of both of us. We had done it! Practiced tying at the trailer, and tacking up! Great discovery, about Buckshot, and about myself- I am able to move beyond my apprehensions of something new with him, and channel a calm, trainer-like attitude! Great self discovery!
The other thing I had to learn on Saturday was the correct safety steps of loading and unloading horses on the trailer (something I had always left to the expert BO). She explained them to me, and Saturday night I went over them in my mind several times to commit them to memory. I wanted to be able to competently help the BOHusband on Sunday.
Sunday went great! I got Buckshot groomed, and I didn’t panic when he started to blow at first sight of the trailer, or when he appeared nervous during grooming. I stayed calm and remembered that a little nervousness of the horse is fine and doesn’t mean he is getting agitated. He acted reticent just a tiny bit as the BOH loaded him on the trailer, along with two other horses.
But after we arrived at the reining farm, he came off the trailer fine and I walked him around competently, and then tied him and proceeded to tack him up. I had to ask the BOH for help getting him bridled but that was fine. And Buckshot definitely didn’t want to stand still when I tightened the girth (need to revisit our clicker training on this again), but we got it done, and got mounted and walking in the arena.
We had a great clinic; after our twenty minute walking, we did some good trotting and some good cantering. I didn’t do very well at all on the canter to the right; I was stiff as a board and pulling on the reins and didn’t feel I had any control going to the right. I will have to work on that, when we are able to canter again. But I did very well at the canter to the left, and I felt great about it (since we hadn’t cantered in weeks). Overall, it was a great session.
When we were finished, Buckshot’s chest area was wet with sweat; since he has a long coat, he sweats easily. I had thought ahead to bring a curry comb and brush so I brushed him. I wish I had thought to bring a towel as well, to try and dry him a bit. After I got the bridle off, and the lead line was around his neck, he used all one thousand pounds to easily drag me over to some grass he absolutely had to nibble on. I tugged, and tugged, and realized that it’s all in the positioning. I moved the lead line up behind his ears, and then I was able to gently steer him back to the trailer to remove the saddle. Then we walked back to the grass and he nibbled happily. We got back in the trailer (with me remembering all the new steps!) and had a tired, but happy ride back to the farm. I got a tired but strong Buckshot out of the trailer and we went back to his home pasture, where he immediately walked purposefully over to just the right spot, and down he went, to roll. And my “aging” horse even rolled all the way over! How cute! I hope he isn’t too sore today!
It was a good weekend where I discovered a few valuable strengths in me, and more good things about Buckshot. He’s a good horse. And I’m still learning. (LOL)
Monday, November 8, 2010
The Wonder of the Warmup
I am very glad to report that Buckshot has been much better during our last three rides. I have religiously been warming him up at the walk for twenty minutes, and I have seen an improvement. He has had better energy during our rides, he hasn’t been off, he has greatly reduced the times he has just stopped after an exercise, and when I ask for the trot he generally has gone immediately into a trot. I think the warmup has been very beneficial to him. I guess it really is essential to him at this point in his life. I am glad to see these improvements.
Yesterday, we not only had a good ride, it was at a new location. Several people from our barn trailered four horses, including Buckshot, to the reining trainer’s farm for a clinic. It was the first time I have ever trailered Buckshot anywhere (other than to bring him to his current farm home). When we arrived, after about an hour drive, he was a bit nervous about being in a new location. He looked around quite a bit, snorted a bit, wanted to walk, didn’t want to eat grass. I walked him around and after a few moments, I thought it would help if I gave him more direction as well, so I walked him in small patterns, asking for a turn or a circle.
After a few minutes, we tacked up and I walked him over to the outdoor arena. We walked on the dirt/sand for a few minutes and I tightened the girth. He wasn’t agitated, just nervous and needing to move more than normal. After tightening the girth, I gave him a cluck and a mint (our version of clicker training), then I moved him to the mounting block and mounted. I started walking him around the arena. More horses were coming into the arena and beginning to walk and trot around the arena. After just a few minutes of walking, Buckshot’s nervousness seemed to dissipate and we walked for twenty minutes. Then I asked for a trot, and it was instantaneous, and energetic. During the clinic, we did several exercises at the trot and canter, and wow! What cantering! He was far more energetic than he has been for the last few weeks. My ability to keep my seat in synch with him wasn’t as good as it could be, since we haven’t cantered much in recent weeks. But I was very excited to just be cantering again, and several times I put both reins in one hand, and pushed against the horn with the other and continued to canter for a longer period of time. (Sometimes when my seat isn’t making the right contact, I will hold onto the horn, not really hold on, but push against it, to help me lean further back, so my seat contact is better). It isn’t as good as riding with the reins in both hands and working on my seat, but sometimes I just do it if I just cannot seem to get my butt to do the right thing. Buckshot has a big, powerful canter so it takes work to have a good seat on him. I had been getting better, but the past few weeks, we haven’t done a lot of cantering. So yesterday it felt wonderful to feel Buckshot’s energy and enthusiasm, and to feel a speedy trotting and a powerful canter from him!
The footing in the arena was perfect and it was a nice, very, very big arena. Buckshot seemed happy to be there and be doing a lot of work. The clinic lasted for just over an hour,after which we dismounted and grazed the horses, then prepared to load them into the trailer and bring them home.
The BO told me later that Buckshot’s initial nervousness, which I would say he never lost totally while we were there, is normal when a horse goes to a new venue for the first time. She said they get used to the new location eventually. For Buckshot and I it was a wonderful day - with a lot of firsts for us, and most importantly, he did well, we did our full walking warm up, he wasn’t off, and rather, had plenty of energy (for the first time in several weeks). A great day! And, as you can tell, I am now fully committed to Buckshot having a full twenty minute warm up at the walk at every ride. Good boy, Buckshot!!
Yesterday, we not only had a good ride, it was at a new location. Several people from our barn trailered four horses, including Buckshot, to the reining trainer’s farm for a clinic. It was the first time I have ever trailered Buckshot anywhere (other than to bring him to his current farm home). When we arrived, after about an hour drive, he was a bit nervous about being in a new location. He looked around quite a bit, snorted a bit, wanted to walk, didn’t want to eat grass. I walked him around and after a few moments, I thought it would help if I gave him more direction as well, so I walked him in small patterns, asking for a turn or a circle.
After a few minutes, we tacked up and I walked him over to the outdoor arena. We walked on the dirt/sand for a few minutes and I tightened the girth. He wasn’t agitated, just nervous and needing to move more than normal. After tightening the girth, I gave him a cluck and a mint (our version of clicker training), then I moved him to the mounting block and mounted. I started walking him around the arena. More horses were coming into the arena and beginning to walk and trot around the arena. After just a few minutes of walking, Buckshot’s nervousness seemed to dissipate and we walked for twenty minutes. Then I asked for a trot, and it was instantaneous, and energetic. During the clinic, we did several exercises at the trot and canter, and wow! What cantering! He was far more energetic than he has been for the last few weeks. My ability to keep my seat in synch with him wasn’t as good as it could be, since we haven’t cantered much in recent weeks. But I was very excited to just be cantering again, and several times I put both reins in one hand, and pushed against the horn with the other and continued to canter for a longer period of time. (Sometimes when my seat isn’t making the right contact, I will hold onto the horn, not really hold on, but push against it, to help me lean further back, so my seat contact is better). It isn’t as good as riding with the reins in both hands and working on my seat, but sometimes I just do it if I just cannot seem to get my butt to do the right thing. Buckshot has a big, powerful canter so it takes work to have a good seat on him. I had been getting better, but the past few weeks, we haven’t done a lot of cantering. So yesterday it felt wonderful to feel Buckshot’s energy and enthusiasm, and to feel a speedy trotting and a powerful canter from him!
The footing in the arena was perfect and it was a nice, very, very big arena. Buckshot seemed happy to be there and be doing a lot of work. The clinic lasted for just over an hour,after which we dismounted and grazed the horses, then prepared to load them into the trailer and bring them home.
The BO told me later that Buckshot’s initial nervousness, which I would say he never lost totally while we were there, is normal when a horse goes to a new venue for the first time. She said they get used to the new location eventually. For Buckshot and I it was a wonderful day - with a lot of firsts for us, and most importantly, he did well, we did our full walking warm up, he wasn’t off, and rather, had plenty of energy (for the first time in several weeks). A great day! And, as you can tell, I am now fully committed to Buckshot having a full twenty minute warm up at the walk at every ride. Good boy, Buckshot!!
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