Star....10/26/10

After two  days of rain ( which I will not complain about), finally back to riding.  Star was pretty revved up after 2 days off, but she is an older mare and came back to earth pretty fast.

She is still very reactionary on her right side, everything that happens to her on that side makes her nervous.  Her left has a softer feel, so common sense says I need to do more on her right.  BUT do not forget to keep working the left also.

We worked on slow collection.  I would squeeze her with my thighs (with light contact in the bit) until I felt her back round up and then immediately give her release.  Horses learn from the release, so timing is everything.  All of this was done at a walk or slow  trot.  Just for a little variety we also did some slow spins. 

She will move as fast as I want her to, but getting her confident on both sides of her body is going to make her a safer horse for her owners.

Star....10/21/10

10/21/10

Star's owner came out today and watched me ride.  Worked on stops and lateral movement.  Star still gets pretty nervous over pressure to her right side, but is way better than when we started.  I'd like to think that her owner liked the progress, but our conversation was on how much of a commitment Star is going to take.  If you let her have more than a couple days off, she is regresses a little.

Anytime you have a horse, you should decide how committed you are going to be.  If you are a weekend warrrior (nothing wrong with that) you will need a different kind of horse than the person who is riding 3-5 days per week.  Star's owner has decided she is more of a weekend warrior with too much going on to commit to the time Star is going to need.  Star is a really nice mare with ALOT of potential to do some really neat things, so if you know of anyone who is interested....contact me.  I plan on putting a video (hopefully, tech challenged ya'know) out here for people to see.

She has been alot of fun to ride and is a really nice mare!

Star....10/15/10

10/15/10

Good day today, we had a nice soft easy ride.  By that I mean, she was soft and responsive to everything I asked her to do.  I spent the main focus on stops.  Doing the speed up so that I could "slow down" to a stop thing.  This really helps her mind because everything is done in a slow down mode.  If you do things to her to fast, she tends to lose her focus and fall apart a little.  At some point she is going to have to show that she can handle some pressure, but as of now we have not reached that point.

Everything we "do" to a horse, should be to the horses advantage.  It should be for the horse.  By no means should we sacrifice our own safety, that should be our first priority.  But once we have reached the point where we are safe, everything should be for the horse.  Don't get in such a hurry to get to the finish line that you sacrifice the needed steps in between that will give you a solid horse.

Star....10/14/10

10/14/10

We had beautiful south Texas day, so I rode down the road.  Star felt good so we started out with her ears up, head up and tail up!  Needless to say everything from fence posts to beer cans were booger points for her.  She calmed down after a couple hundred yards and dropped her head, ready to travel.  This ride was more just a "be a horse and get down the road" ride, than a training ride.  But she did well, after getting warmed up.  She is a horse that really likes to travel, she shows this by her attitude.  Ears forward, head swinging side to side....always looking ahead.  Once she gets the edge off, she is a real joy to ride!

Star....10/12/10

10/12/10

Well, we'll call it a ride.....with the wind blowing as much as it did today, Star had her right brained thing going on...

We have to remember that a horse is a prey animal, so all movement means something to them.  If the grass is moving, it could mean something is coming.  Not just to hurt them, but to kill them and then eat them.  This is the prey animal instinct.  It is true in all horses, just way more evident in right brained horses.  So with her being so twitchy, I decided some "on the ground slow down" was needed.  Meaning groundwork.

Use my stick and string, played several of the games with her.  One of the last things we worked on was a squeeze game.  Horses are claustrophobic, they don't like to be trapped or contained.  Star is normal, she doesn't like to think she might be trapped.  A little background on Star....When her owners picked her up the last time, she did not want to get in the trailer. (it was even a open, big nice one).  We spent 45 minutes to an hour just letting her find her way into the trailer.  She eventually loaded, but was still very nervous.  During the squeeze game today, I would stand 6-8 feet from a fence, then direct and drive her through the hole between me and the fence.  When we started out, she was rushing through the hole as fast as she could.  So we kept doing it until she would at least walk through it.  She was still nervous about it, so I then asked her to stop in the hole.  She didn't like that at all, but she was willing.  While she was stopped in the hole, I spent some time rubbing her all over with my stick and string (desensitizing).  After we got good at that, I move over to our walk through stocks and just asked her to put her head in it.  Once she was ok with just her head, I asked for one foot at a time until she was all the way in.  The first time, she just rushed through.  That was ok, she got brave enough to go into it.  We worked this from both sides a bunch of times and she got to the point she trusted me enough, that she was willing to stand in it.  Again, I spent the time desensitizing her.  It needed to be a pleasant experience for her to want to do it again.  We went in and out several more times and we ended the day on a good note.

Do I think she is completely over being a claustrophobic?  NO.  Do I think she will have trouble if I ask her to do this tomorrow?  Yes.  But with time and patience, I believe she will get to the point she will tolerate it....maybe even like it. 

How many times have we seen a horse that won't load, or won't go in the arena.  Same concept, everytime they go in, it isn't a pleasant experience.  Whether it is a tiny trailer, our driving or they are scared of something in the arena....it needs to be a pleasant experience.  Take the time it takes now, so it doesn't take as long next time.

Star....10/9/10

Saturday (10/9/10)

Star was much better today.  She will most likely always be a "reactive" horse, but the more confidence she has in her rider....the less of this she will show.  We started out working to the "slow downs" and 3 days of consistently doing this has certianly paid off.  She was pretty solid in her stops at a walk and trot.  Now, I took the same principles and asked her to do this at a lope.  Started out asking for the stops at a walk, then a trot and finally a lope.  She got pretty excited when asked for more speed and the stop wasn't as nice.  But we moved from the "slow down" at a walk, to a trot, to a lope and back again several times.  Always keep in mind that this is a transition, so the more of these you can do the better off you will be.

Star....10/8/10

Ha!  So much for posting Friday's and Saturday's rides yesterday....

Friday (10/8/10).....
Worked more of the the same, as yesterday, with Star.  I am trying to get her to slow down her mind and wait for me to give the request.  Her reactions are so quick, she is moving out of fear and not from the request.  The goal should be to make the request and then her move, at the pace you want her to.  The more energy I raise up in my body, the faster she should react.  If the energy is low, then her reaction should be slower.  She still wants to "blow" through all of her reactions.

So we worked on more "speeding up" to a slow down.  If you don't know what I mean here, see the post for 10/9/10.

Star....10/7/10

Thursday....A little late posting this, but will post the last 3 rides today.

If Star has much time off, she tends to fall back into old habits and comforts.  Meaning she slips back into her reation mode for most cue requests.  So, we worked on "slow downs".  I would ask her to do a controlled stop at a  walk.  Then we would speed things up to a trot and ask for the same thing.  All the while trying to get the same controlled reaction she gave me at a walk.  Most of the ride was spent going slow to a stop and then speeding up to "go slow to a stop".  She was better at the end than at the beginning, as she should be, but she needs more wet saddle blankets.

Star....10/5/10

Well the county fair is over and the lambs have moved onto greener pastures.  It was a busy week and not much was accomplished as far as the horses were concerned.  But, back to riding yesterday!

Since Star has had a few days off, I thought it would be a good idea to review some of the things we have been working on up to this point.  Traveling straight, flexion (both lateral and vertical), moving off of my leg cues, ect.  After a warm up to loosen her mind and muscles, we moved into these things.  As I have said before, she is really right brained and that makes her overly responsive to any cues.  Meaning her actions were a "get away" rather than a "move" response.  So, until she calmed a little her responses were fast.  After she was in her "left mind" (thinking side) she really started responding well and was willing to try whatever I asked of her.  Still wanted to be quick and fast, but almost 10 days off will get you that.  Not riding today (Wednesday), but we should get some good rides in the rest of the week.

Star....9/26/10

Sunday...
Another Beautiful south Texas day!  Spent most of the day prepping the kids lambs for the fair. But did get some time with Star and put in some ground work.  Ground work is something that I used to think was a waste of time, that I could do in the saddle what my Dad was doing on the ground.  I think we all turn into our parents at some point and I find myself saying and doing alot of the things that my Dad did, and said, back then. 

Back then, I was rougher and my horsemanship was rougher.  I joked about the "scars" I had from some of things we did when I was in college.  I gave as good as I got back then, but our thought for our horses was sometimes lacking.  I can remember being hired to put a few rides on some long yearlings with a friend of mine.  Our horse handling skills were definitely old school back then.  We snubbed them to a center post, saddled them up and took turns being bronc riders.  No groundwork, no preperation and no feel for the horse.  They were bucking and that all we cared about.  How many of these horses were harder for someone to finish, than if we had taken our time and went at it from the horses perspective?  Probably all of them. 

Ground work is fundamental for all of your riding and your confidence.  I start with being able to yeild the hind end.  Take your stick and string, start waving it in the air at their hip.  If they don't move, you move it for them (In a horse herd, boss mare says move now and then backs it up).  This has levels of pressure, from the lowest to the highest.  YOUR skilll should tell you how fast that progression should be.  The less skill you have, the slower the progression needs to be.  Also included in this is your body language, if you want your horse to move their hip....then you should have the same look on your face as Boss Mare does when she moves another horse.  Ears back, teeth bared....I said move now!

Then you should be able to make them back away from you by shaking your lead at them.  Start by wiggleing your finger, then your wrist, then your elbow and finally your shoulder (each of these is a progression in pressure from the lowest to the highest).  As your horses learns, they will start to back away at the finger wiggle.  See body language note above, it applies here also.

Star....9/25/10

Saturday....
Beautiful day in south Texas!  Left early to pick up two weanlings for the kids 4H project next year.  So I got a late start on Stars ride.

We again rode in the big pen, working on collection and staying in a straight line.  She is really starting to transfer what I am trying to teach her into her normal patterns.  Meaning I don't have to work as hard to show her what I want, she is becoming really attentive to the cues I am giving her.  I normally do not just cover one or two items when  I ride.  I may talk about only a couple of items here, but when I ride I try to cover all the things I have been doing.  I work on lateral and vertical flexion, side passing, two tracking, spins, ect.  I take the manuvers she is weakest at and work the most on those (usually the ones I write about here). 

The more you ride a horse, the more they pick up on the subtleties of your cues.  Do I move my legs the same way every time I asked her for a lead change, if so....your horse should start to pick up on this.  They will react to the cue faster, and sometimes before you even give the cue.  They are reacting to the cue, based on the moves you made before the cue.  This means consistency.  If you change your training program everyday, then you will not be consistent and your horse will not show consistent growth.

Star....9/23/10

I rode Star yesterday in our bigger pen.  We mainly worked on straight lines and collection.  Just because a horse has good vertical flexion, does not mean they are collected.  Collection is the rounding of the back, causing the horse to drive from their back legs.  Star can do this quite easily, she just doesn't want to hold it very long.  But she's a "tryer", so we continue to work at it. 

I recently read and article by Stacy Westfall, where she talked about giving a horse options.  If you wanted a horse to try one thing, you needed to give them another (harder) option.  Give them a choice.  This is excellent advice, always give them an option.  This works with horses and kids, but the option you don't want them to choose must be harder than what you want them to do.

A horse is going to scare, that's in their nature.  They are the ultimate prey animal, escape is always their first option.  A scared horse is a dangerous animal, but if you teach them to "scare in place" you can manage that fear better. 

With Star I started by squeezing her with my knees and asking her for a soft release from the bit, while standing in place.  I try to do this in 3's.  Start at a stand still, ask for the soft release.  As soon as she drops her head, I released the pressure on the bit.  Do this two more times.  Then try it at a walk, then back at a stand still, then back at a walk.  I continued this pattern until she will drop her head whenever I squeeze her with my knees.  All of this works really well by riding, but if you didn't do the basics on the ground....you will have a longer road.  I spent a lot of time on the ground with her, using my stick and string to desensitze her.  Rubbed her all over with it, flipped it around her head and body.  Let her know, both in the saddle and on the ground, that my body language should tell her how to react.  She had choices with this, she could push against the bit or she could drop her head.  The dropping of her head was the easier choice, she chose it. 

Your body language should be that whatever they are boogering at, is not that big of deal.  I know, easier said than done.  But as we ride, we benefit from those "wet" saddle blankets too.  We gain confidence and skill.

Star....9/21/10

Rode down the road again last night.  Star likes to travel, so again pretty fast at a long trot.  Since I like a horse that will move on out, I really enjoyed it.  She still likes to get a little right brained (reactive side of her brain) , but is spending less and less time there everyday.  So I really look forward to the day her owner comes to ride. 

So much of riding a horse like this is staying level yourself, meaning when she is scared...you can't be scared with her.  A horse can feel a fly on their back, so they can surely feel when we are scared.  Our muscles tense up, our energy comes up and the horse get pre-signaled that they were right.  They were right in believing that whatever booger that they thought they saw, long before we did, is really there.  So if we are not going to be the lead horse (and show them that there is nothing to react to), they will take matters in their own hooves and fly the coop.  It takes lots and lots of practice to get this kind of trust from your horse.  Do you want a horse that never scares at anything, no.  But what is your level of "scare"?  I want my horses to "scare in place".  Meaning, I want them watching what is happening and waiting for my response. 

As I have said before....you can't ride scared, but you can ride prepared!

Star....9/18/10

Between 4H meetings and upkeep of the place, it is sometimes hard to fit a ride in....BUT we did get one in Saturday.  Before I start telling about this, I feel the need to do a review and checkup on my horse.  I hit all the check points last ride, but it has been a couple of days...so review is a good thing.  Another good thing is riding prepared for anything that might happen, you can't ride scared....but you can ride prepared.

To preface these "be prepared" statements, I feel it is important to visit my younger years.  I went to college at Lamar, CO and took the HTM course.  Very good course, but that isn't what I am going to talk about.  I went there with a bunch of guys that all thought we were ten feet tall and bulletproof, there wasn't a horse that we couldn't ride, ect.  We were wild young hon-yocks (names shall not be mentioned to protect the not so innocent that might or might not have been doing something illegal), so to keep it interesting there was always a practical joke or two going on.  One of our favorites was to ride up on both sides someone and jerk thier head stall off....usually your horse would just stay with the others....occasionally not.  On the occasions when the "not" occourred, this usually led to the rodeo we all wanted to see! (I may talk about this a some later point, when the scars have healed)  Sometimes it was as simple as undoing your back cinch....needless to say no one was safe!  Was it safe, heck no!  We weren't smart enough to know we could really hurt someone, but it was fun....ten feet tall and bullet proof...

 Down here near Houston, trail rides are a big deal.  Each come down the road with wagons, riders, trucks, trailers and port-a-potties.  I don't care for the confinement of riding with a group, but if that is your thing...have fun!  All that said, the "road" is what you have to be prepared for when you ride...whether with a group or by yourself. 

Preflight check was completed before I left the barn, all was ready to ride down the road. Star and I headed down the road (bar ditch is the safest)....at a long trot...just traveling miles.  The first few times a car went by, she got pretty excited.  All of the preflight checks came into play and she calmed right down.  She really likes to travel so we did a couple of miles pretty fast, now something else comes into play.  The south Texas heat.  You can't guard against that, just have to deal.  So we walked  for a while, which was probably even scarier for her!  When she was trotting, she felt like she was getting away.  At a walk she had to learn to deal with the issues....dogs, cars and horse eating trash!  After several miles, alternating between walking a trotting, we ended up back at the barn.  A successful ride. Could someone else with less experience call this a successfull ride?  Hmmmm, don't know.  But, we traveled straight, she listened to my cues and calmed down when I needed her to.  Successfull ride!

Anytime you ride, whether in the pasture or on the road.....you can't ride scared, but you can ride prepared!  If your scared, get off and do more ground work.  The basics build confidence and small pens help that when you start riding.  Just don't get yourself stuck in the pen, you miss so much of what God has to offer in the country side and in your horse.

Star....9/14/10

Star is getting stronger, more confident ever day.  That will be the case with most horses.  Back in the day it was called "wet saddle blankets".  I can remember hearing this as a kid, thinking "why would you wet the saddle blankets before you put them on the horse?"  Seems I was missing the concept, hopefully everyone knows what this means.  If not, it means riding.  Riding in the pasture, riding in the arena (I usually get bored with arena work way before my horses do..) or even riding down the road (always think about the person in the car, they usually have no idea about slowing down or any of the things we know can happen while they are roaring past).  I ride down the road, since I don't have access to acreage to ride on (to me that is the best, lots of ground to cover without the dangers of the road)  Last evening, I did some check ups on Star in preparation of riding down the road.  Can I do one rein stops (yes), do we have good lateral flexion (yes) and can we travel between the reins (stay in a straight line--yes).  At this time I believe she is prepared to go down the road.  Does that mean there will be no problems, no...dogs running out to the road, people unaware of how a car roaring by at 60 can scare a horse, that piece of horse eating trash blowing toward you....all these things can create issues.  But if you have prepared your horse to trust you and you have spent some time in the arena or pasture (thus your confidenct will be stronger) then you are ready as you can be.  As with any horse activity, if in doubt....don't do it.  Make sure your fundamentals are solid.  The more "wet" saddle blankets you pull off your horse, the more solid they become!

Star....9/11/10

Saturday 9/11/10

One of the things I like to note in the posts are some training tips.  Not all of them are useful to everyone.  Take the ones that work for you and ignore the rest.  That is what I do.  BUT don't forget that you need to "park" your ego at the gate, you can learn something from everyone.

One rein stops are a very important safety valve.  You should be able to pull your rein to one side or the other and eventually bring your horse to a stop.  This requires the proper preparation, you can't get on today, break him into a run and then try to do a one rein stop.  There will be a wreck of dramatic proportions, with you as the wreckee.  Start at a walk, gently pull your horse to one side (asking for the release) and as soon as all forward motion stops (don't worry, they will go in circles, just hold your ground).  Let go, give your horse the release.  Sit a few seconds (give him time to "soak").  Repeat this until you can pick of the rein, start to ask and you get a stop.  As soon as you have mastered that, move to a higher speed.  As the bottle says....rinse and repeat....

On to Star, today we backed up a little and did some fundamentals.  One rein stops are good for her because it interupts her pattern and makes her think.  She is a horse that likes mindless work, the fear/reaction side of her brain kicking in.  So, anything to break the pattern is a good thing.  We did this all afternoon at all of the speeds.  She was lots better and the end than she was at the beginning, as she should be.

Star....9/10/10

Friday 9/10/10....

Another day a slow repetitions.  Worked on stops and collection.  The two naturally work together and it is hard to have a correct stop without correct collection.  Collection is more than just having a horse that will flex at the poll and give to the bit.  Think of collection as using your body/thighs to push the horse through his ears.  You want his back to "round" up, which in turn pulls the horses hind legs up under them.  Thus causing the horse to use their hind legs to move themselves forward.

All that said....this was the bulk of the afternoon with Star.  Slow collected trotting (helps her to calm down) and smooth stops.  She has shown a lot of growth in her development, but as I have said before training horses is all about repetition and consistent cues.

Star....9/6/10

Monday...
So much of horse training is about repetition.  Doing the same thing, the same way, over and over again.  How can we expect our horses to be consistent, if we are not!   So with Star's trust issues, being consistent is very important.  The more you work a certain thing, the more confidence she gets.

Again today, collection and stopping correctly.  Hold her with contact, in her frame and then when everything is right, ask her to stop.  Once she stops, ask her to back up a couple of steps.  Consistency leads to more trust.

Star....9/5/10

Sunday....
Worked more on collection, but also worked on stopping correctly.  The two are tied together and if she is collected the stop will be there.  When stopping correctly I would ask her to hold her frame and come to a stop, at a walk to start with, and stop when her front end is off the ground.  The causes her to break in the middle.  As a rider, I should be holding myself up (high energy) and relax (picture a balloon deflating, in fact that is what I do...blow my air out) while pushing down with my body.  Still very reactionary, but wet saddle blankets and patience will help to correct that.

Star....9/4/10

Saturday....
Before it started to rain again worked Star.  Again...slow, slow, slow....Trying to slow down her mind so that she doesn't get so panicky.  She is a very reactionary horse, so all the cues are reacted to very quickly but it is more out of fear than "want to".

We worked on collection and carrying her frame.  I would ask her round out her back and ride with contact.  She is getting better, but everything is still very reactive.