KSC Spring Horsemanship Challenge: Week 2 Wrapup

Week 2 of the Challenge was indeed a challenge. I had a crazy busy work week and didn't ride nearly as much as I wanted to, but where we lacked in quantity, we made up in quality. Betty is such a willing partner; it challenges me to be the best, most effective rider I can be so that we don't waste a moment.

Tuesday: Started off the ride in the best way possible when Betty stood like a statue for me to hop on. We warmed up with circles working on stretching her neck long and down first to the inside and then to the outside. When she was relaxed, I would lift the inside rein slightly and ask her to make her circles just a little bigger. This was our first time riding in the indoor arena in a while, and I was pleased that she felt much more forward and balanced. Our previous rides frequently had a sort of scrambling quality like she just didn't understand how to get traction, and at the same time she would always be trying to stop and then shoot forward. Not pleasant. Tonight was a whole different story; she felt solid and ready to concentrate on work instead of putting most of her attention into not falling down or running into a wall.  We moved up to the trot and did some buttonholes and some pinwheels. She still struggles to the left, but had some really nice forward moving maneuvers with good crossover in front. I need to remember to feel whether or not she is balanced and ready to do the exercise rather than just throwing her into it when I get impatient. I really focused on how she responded to my leg, because I wanted to try something new. After our quick warmup, I knew she was ready. 

We ponied Norman! It was awesome. She really wanted to be worried about the whole situation, but, when she realized there was a job to do, she settled right down and got to work. I was really impressed. She had a few moments where she got really nervous, but she handled herself so well. I like the way she clinks the bit in her mouth three times after she does something scary. It's like her way of settling herself. My silly little mare. 

Thursday: I ran Betty and Norman around together in the indoor arena. They really seem to enjoy their group exercise time, and it's so cute watch them together. I felt lucky to have enough time to groom her and shove some treats in her face. 

Saturday: I had some of my students out for a lesson and it was way too nice not to ride a horse myself. Betty tolerated things pretty well and even did some nice work. 

The weather was beautiful, and all the ponies were on their best behavior. We worked on pivots and on moving her hips around while walking forward. No fancy maneuvers, just asking her if she minds moving her big booty over a step or two. She still likes to be tense rather than relaxed, so this was a challenge for her, but she gave it an A+ effort. 

Monday: We enjoyed another sunny ride outside. She was very soft at the walk. Her trot work was much more rhythmic without being lazy, and she's figuring out how to take horse size strides rather than choppy ones. Our pieces work (1,2,3) is getting smoother. She seemed to understand piece 3 better after Saturday's review of moving her hips around. I can feel her thinking about what I'm asking but not always getting the right answer. We did the windshield wiper exercise (stop, back, pivot, trot off, repeat) to help get her lifting her shoulders better in her backing as well as give her a reason to hustle around her turns. Loping we introduced the idea of the big fast and slow small circles that will be such an important part of her reining work. Our circles are getting rounder and more consistent, and, to the left, we even have two speeds, sometimes.  To the right, she still needs to get coordinated to bend and slow down, but she's thinking along the right track.  I've been struggling to figure out my seat on this mare, as I've always felt we are slightly out of sync. I think I finally got myself figured out during this ride. She is so small even a small change from me can really affect her. I know the actual change in my position is small, but it feels like I am leaning so far forward over her shoulders that she will fall on her face. Apparently, that's where I need to be so that she can get her back up and drive with her hind end, though. Strange as it may feel, I'm gonna work with it. 

I'm really pleased with her progress this week, and I'm inspired to ride even better this week and see where we are by next Tuesday! 

KSC Spring Horsemanship Challenge: Week 1 Wrapup

Our first week of the challenge went really well. The weather was, overall, wonderful. Betty is shedding... mostly on her neck and shoulders.. why?! Why must my beautiful horse shed from front to back like a weirdo? Oh well, I'm sure her hiney will catch up eventually. Throughout the week, I've been taking a critical look at where we are at in our training and trying to set some concrete goals to mark our progress as we prepare for our clinic. Each of my rides focused on skills that are too important to only learn halfway. 

Tuesday: Our ride was focused mostly on going forward. Forward has always been a sticky spot for Betty. She is willing to go, but when she wants to stop or slow down, she's pretty quick about doing so. I need her to start moving when I ask and maintain movement until I ask for something else. When we are working cattle, I can't nag at her with my legs every stride; there's a few other elements I need to be focused on. A steady, balanced canter has thus far eluded us, but we had some nice circles during our ride. My goal was to just stay out of her way and let her work, and she did! I've been a little ADD with Betty's rides lately, and I really had no idea where we would come out on this important foundation piece. That being said, I wasn't surprised that she has improved so much. This mare is so smart and loves to learn new things. I have to keep my focus, or she gets ahead of me and doesn't know what to do.

Wednesday: Since Betty is shedding like mad, I took a little extra time and refreshed her clicker training during grooming. She doesn't like to stand still when she doesn't feel like it and would also still like it to be ok for her to be nervous about me touching certain places on her body, particularly around her rump. I have no aversion to buying my horse's cooperation, so I reinforced her "Stand" command while I gave her the most thorough grooming of her life. This also tied into my plan for riding as she has gotten into the habit of wiggling around when I try to mount; I want to be able to tell her to stand and have her plant her feet immediately. We also worked on pulling her feet forward like she will have to do for her farrier appointment on 4/21. She hates holding her foot up on the hoof stand the most, and I think this cycle she will get back shoes as well, so twice as many feet as the last time. She really loves food so was very good for this practice. I'm hoping it pays off for John, the best farrier in the whole wide world. When I finally got around to riding her, I spent a few minutes working on having her stand while I mount, and showing her that this way she doesn't get bumped in the ribs with my foot, which she hates. Sadly, I forgot to check my cinch, and I ended up getting down to do that and has the bonus opportunity of practicing standing to mount again. Eventually, we got warmed up and I began working on our "5 easy pieces exercises". If you aren't familiar, it's basically a five part warm up routine that helps you break down the body into four basic pieces, head/neck, shoulders, ribs, and hindquarters. It's a great way to move front to back through your horse's body (and training) and find where you and them may need some extra work. Pieces one and two (Stretching the horse's neck in and out while traveling on a circle, nothing fancy) have been part of our routine, but I focused on emphasizing relaxation as she gave to the rein and stretching her neck out rather than down. I feel that she completely understands these two exercises but needs to spend more time doing them to get more relaxed before increasing the difficulty by asking for more give or smaller circles. She still wants to either tuck her head or stiffen her neck and dive her shoulder into the turns. I have to try to support her with my leg without hanging on her or nagging her. We rode the buttonhole exercise, which I have a separate post to talk about because I like it that much. Toward the end of our arena time, I introduced the concept of piece 3, moving the ribs, and she gave me a few nice steps. We left that one to soak, but I was very pleased with how hard she tried to figure out the puzzle.  I added more guidance from my outside seat bone in the canter and we had some nice moments where I felt like we were together rather than bouncing off each other trying to find the rhythm. Also did some rollbacks along the rail at the canter for the first time, and she loved it. We had some lovely departs into the canter and some nice stops as well.  It was such a beautiful day we spent some time riding the loop and visiting neighbors working on steady steps up and down hills and just going straight without worrying about much. She wanted to explore where the tree fell recently, and down by her old paddock along the fenceline. She is so smart. And weird. Here's a short video from our "trail ride"

Thursday: We took a day off from riding and did just a bit of groundwork. I focused on having her yield her head and neck to halter pressure and loosening her back. This ties in with my decision to focus on pieces one and two becoming more relaxed under saddle, and it's a huge piece of her lunging training that I skipped. I also let her free lunge with her mini me, Norman. 

Friday: We did lots of trot work and changes of direction. Working on clearing up leg aids and getting response from shoulders/ribs/hips as needed. Used leg yeild on the wall to help her get the idea for piece three, and it helped a lot. Our canter was even better than the previous days. Riding in the outdoor arena where she has a little more space to get coordinated seems to have really helped her get things figured out. I was happy that she really seemed to relax into our bendy trot work and I even got some video to prove it... but you can't see it... because, even though I uploaded it to Youtube, they say I didn't. I know it's out there somewhere, but I can't figure out where or how to make it be here. So, just imagine it for now, but try not to imagine too fantastically, I don't want you to be disappointed. 

 

Saturday: I didn't have time to ride, but we spent a few minutes hanging out in Betty's stall. I fed her too many treats and scratched her itchy neck, but then I had to take off to teach some lessons. 

This week's rides were all super productive, and I am working on a post laying out my goals for the coming weeks. 

This Is Not a Joke

I wanted to post this entry yesterday, but I feared people would only think it was an April Fools joke and never come back. This is, I believe, my return to regular blogging. I have been dealing with a few issues that led me to be a bit wishy washy with this blog. First, I had a hard time deciding on what type of writing I wanted to do here, but I also lost a dear friend last year and have spent the last year feeling not at all myself. Earlier attempts at bringing the blog back in a "fake it til you make it" approach left me feeling frustrated. I was empty inside and words would float around my head but never solidify into cohesive thoughts. The good news is, I've been doing a lot of training, riding, and thinking. Now that I'm feeling a little more myself, I'm ready to share my thoughts with you! BUT FIRST... We are going to start off with an update on Betty the wondermare.

After our fantastic outing at the SAFE show, Betty and I continued to work on riding, showmanship, and having her feet handled. I struggled to find enough time to ride her at the facility she was at as the days became shorter. Without arena lights,  I was still heading out to feed her each day, but I wasn't able to ride much. So, in October, she moved to The Red Horse Farm, my home base of operations and where two of my lessons horses live. We spent the next four months not quite riding as much as I'd like but still progressing steadily. Then we went and did this:



Her first time on cattle showed a lot of promise, but I realized how many buttons I still needed to install before she would be ready to work them again. We started working with more focus and with an aim at better body control. Betty was really enjoying her large pasture at RHF, but I was again running into issues with her housing arrangement. It was beginning to get hard to catch her, and I found myself making excuses not to ride just so I could avoid the half hour of chasing her around the pasture it would take to bring her in. In January, I had a serious talk with myself about getting this mare on track. At this point, she had about the equivalent of 45 days of training. We could walk/trot/canter and had basic steering but little else.

So, again, Betty was loaded on the trailer and moved a little further north along the road to Lazy M Stables. This has become my main training barn, and it made sense to have Betty where I do most of my riding. Since her move in February she has really come a long way. We have been taking lessons with a reining trainer, a dressage trainer, and hauling out to work some cattle. She has learned how to bend (relaxation is still a work in progress), is much better balanced, works well off my leg, and is starting to take horse strides instead of short choppy pony strides. This little mare has been such a joy to work with, and it turns out she's pretty talented too. She clearly was bred for the types of events I want to do and has such a steady temperament it's amazing.

So why bother to blog about her again after so long? Well, let me tell you what we have coming up! Starting April 1, we are participating in a 14 Week Riding Challenge. Between now and July 12, the goal is to complete 40 rides and a total of 60 hours together. Since we usually ride 5 days a week, I am hoping to complete this challenge by the end of May. Here are a few photos from our first ride of the challenge.




She's still pretty fuzzy but has put on some good muscle since the fall. These are our official "before" pictures for the challenge.



Baby slide stop tracks are starting to happen. Sometimes she braces too much, but it's a work in progress.

The reason for the challenge and the blogging, is to help keep me accountable and track my progress towards something that's already keeping me up at night with excitement. June 7-8, Betty and I will be heading across the mountains to clinic with Les Vogt. This guy is one of the greats, and I never expected to have a chance to ride with him. Needless to say, I am super excited and want to be sure that Betty and I are prepared to take home as much from the clinic as possible.

For some reason I can't get this video to embed, but it's a great explanation of his training approach and our road map for the next month at least: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJs_KP7e_DA&list=PLR4AO9Zju0dTri8I--5JmsUJolS3n33fE&index=2

We are currently improving pieces 1 and 2, and I just introduced step 3. So, we are well on our way. I'm also focused on getting her more relaxed and steady at the lope. Once these skills are a little further developed, I will put together a list of more specific goals. I still need to be careful of pushing her too hard, and I want to get out on the trails as soon as we dry out a bit here. Check back often to see what we're up to! 

SAFE Show Recap

Well, we have survived our first show. There are lots of firsts to check off our list now. First night stalled away from home, first show, and first ribbons won. Overall, I was pleased with the way that Betty handled her first show experience.

Friday evening I loaded up and Z and Betty, dropped by another barn to pick up a friend's horse, and drove out to the beautiful Donida Farms. After locating the stalls, settling the horses, and getting things organized, I took Betty to the indoor arena to let her get used to the surroundings. We looked around at all the new sights....mirrors, flower boxes, and all the other little things a horse might find scary. Betty, of course, didn't find any of them alarming. At all. I put her on the lunge line to get a little exercise and work out any kinks that she might have developed in the trailer. She worked just as well in the scary, new environment as she does at  home. I hurried to get her put away so that I could bathe Z while there was still some daylight.

Saturday morning Betty showed in her very first classes. We almost missed our Stockhorse Halter class, but the judge let us sneak in at the last minute. Betty did very well standing waiting for the judge to come around to her. After asking her age and breed, the judge commented that she loved Betty's cute ears. I like 'em too. No ribbon in our first class, but because this show was to benefit a rescue, they also held a rescue horse halter class. Betty totally knew the routine for this class, and I was very proud of her. I was even more proud, though, when we were announced her as the third place horse in the class. Betty was done for the day after her two morning classes, and I shifted my attention to Z for the riding classes. He did great his first day showing. In our first walk/jog class after warming up with several walk only classes, Z looked so shocked when I asked him to jog off. I was really proud of the way he calmly took on everything he came across.

Sunday was the English day at the show, but the trail course was still open for both disciplines. Betty did the course in hand two times. The first time through, I brought treats and gave her a little reward after each obstacle. She handled all of them very calmly, Even though we had never done anything like this before. This is our second time through:

At the end of the day, it was announced that we placed fourth in this class. Way to go Betty!

When I went to catch Betty in her stall at the end of the day on Sunday, she turned her back to me showing that she was at the end of her good behavior. Even though she spent most of the weekend just being at the show, I can tell that she was pushed to her limits. She never wavered in her behavior with me, and I have to remember in the future that even if she is showing no outward signs, she may still be stressed out. It is always tempting with a quiet horse to push them too far too fast. Me and Betty have a lot of years together, and I don't want to push her faster than she is ready to go.

We will continue to build on this first exposure, and I am excited for what will come.

Now I Can Exhale

Last week I had my second and third rides on Betty, and we are settling into a routine. I catch her and Z, cross tie them to groom and saddle, and then they take turns tied to the fence while I ride the other horse. Betty usually stands very quietly watching while I ride Z. Occasionally she'll get herself into a pickle with the rope over her head, but she just calmly works herself out of it. What a smart girl. I'm so glad she's sensible when tied. Nothing really seems to faze this mare, though; so, I shouldn't be surprised.

Our second ride was much like the first. Betty had a little bit more nervous energy when I brought her to the mounting block, but she settled down quickly and stood very nicely at the block for me to hop on. The most important thing for her to realize this ride was the ability to move forward. We still did many tiny little circles, and she trotted off in a small panic when I smacked her hiney with the end of my rein to inspire some forward energy, but she relaxed into the ride and even went straight for a few strides at a time. I kept it short and sweet, but I was so proud of my girl.

Our third ride was even better! We walked and trotted both directions mostly on the rail. She balances well and is getting the hang of turning from my seat and leg. I'm riding her in the sidepull, and it's a great tool for teaching her to follow her nose through turns. I've never started a horse with one before, but I think it may be my new favorite piece for starting horses.

During training, people put a lot of emphasis on the first ride, but, the way I see it, I have the element of surprise for that one. To me, the better test is the second ride. The horse knows what's coming and has to make the decision whether they're going to behave or buck me off. Of course, if I have done my preparation well, there won't be a problem, but there's always the free will of the horse to take into account. Since we've got three rides behind us, I think I can finally relax. Betty will continue to progress, and I can stop worrying about it and get down to the serious business of training.

While I haven't sent in my registration yet, we are definitely planning on attending the S.A.F.E. show August 3 and 4. Z will show in some western classes, and I may even ride a Western Dressage test with him. I'm not sure what capacity Betty will participate, but, at the very least, I hope to do some in hand classes with her. We have been practicing our showmanship every session, and she is improving by leaps and bounds. I'm really hoping she will be doing well enough to go into a walk only class. We've got a few weeks left before the show, and I will just have to see where we are at when the big day comes.

7/2 Betty Update

I actually worked Betty two days in a row. All the beautiful sunshine we've been having leaves me feeling motivated enough to work ALL the ponies! She would have preferred the day off, so I buttered her up with some vitamins. She seems to be back to liking them after several weeks of turning them down.

Her second day wearing the saddle went much like the first. Alas, a good photo of her all dressed up continues to elude me, but, where I lack in quality I make up for in quantity.

Betty has become very snuggly. I'm not complaining, but it does make photographing her a little more difficult. 

I think she looks pretty cute all tacked up. 

More exciting news is coming soon.   

A Mostly Blurry Pictures Betty Update

Even though the weather and an illness have kept me from getting out to see Betty as much as I'd like we are still making wonderful progress. We are doing so well, in fact, I've scheduled of Ferrier appointment for this Thursday.

Yesterday, it was really rainy so I decided to skip our normal work session in favor of a spa day. Since mostly spa day included standing around, I decided it was a good day to introduce tying.

After we conquered the obstacle of standing on the scary mats, Betty totally relaxed and went about doing her favorite thing... looking for something to eat.

Including coming all the way into the tack room with me. Her cookie search was not rewarded until she was back outside where a pony belongs!

Now that she was comfortable, it was time to tie her up.

While she nibbled from the planter, I trimmed her mane and tail, brushed them out, and used scissors to give her a bridle path.

Spa day was also a way to get her relaxed in the area where she will get her feet trimmed tomorrow.

So, we worked on holding her front feet between my knees like the farrier will. She did great and let me hold them for quite a while. She would occasionally struggle but quickly relaxed. Her balance has improved, and I think that makes it easier for her to relax.

Can't wait to get these bad boys fixed up! 

Groundwork, Moving, and Goal Accomplishing Mega Update

I have been really good about getting out to see Betty, but I've been horrible about blogging. So here, in all its fascinating detail, is the recap. 

Saturday was our first day working on Goal #3- Plant the feet. I want to desensitize Betty to the point that she will stand still and relaxed while I walk around her doing any number of ridiculous things. 

I started by turning her loose in the arena to work a few of the kinks out. I was able to catch a little video of her "before" movement. 

When she got all the wiggles out we moved on to our desensitizing work. I got out the long rope and started swingin'. I decided to keep going with the clicker into this stage of the training. I've gone back and forth about using so many treats, but I'm really enjoying working with her using the clicker. It serves as a nice bookmark letting her know when she is on the right track and it's really working as a way to get her to check back in with me. When she gets nervous, she wants to run off and just keep going so nothing scary will happen. The clicker gives me a way to grab her attention and bring her back to me. I set up an easy question, when she gets the right answer, I click, and she walks over to me to get a treat. It's an easy way to reset a situation that isn't going in a productive way. If she ever gets rude or pushy, the treats go away for good. So far, though, she has been very respectful. She totally understands the system and doesn't try to mug for treats when she hasn't earned one. So I'm using the clicker and the approach and retreat method to introduce the concept that scary things can fly at her and not eat, maim, or kill her. By the end of our session, I was able to swing the rope, training stick, and the training stick with the string all over her and around her with only minimal wiggling around. We will need a few more sessions until I can walk around her swinging with her standing completely still and relaxed, but we are off to a great start. She definitely had a harder time with things happening up near her head and on the top of her rump; so, I will be putting some extra time into these areas. To address her head issue, I worked on asking her to lower her head when I put downward pressure on her lead rope. She has a tendency to raise her head and pull back in response to pressure on her halter, so I want to make sure she understands the concept of giving and gets more comfortable with things moving on her head before I teach her to tie. Overall, I was really pleased with our session. She seems to be retaining information very well, and she tries hard to do what I'm asking of her. She's also admitted she likes getting scratches on the neck and ear rubs. She'll be acting like the big pet that she is in no time. 

Sunday was mostly a day off for us. I did stop by and give her day 3 of her dewormer and spent a few minutes scratching all the loose hair off her neck. She is shedding out her scuzzy winter coat and growing a new beautiful, soft, coat. I can't wait to see how nice she'll look all shed out. 

Monday was a stormy, windy, ugly, day. It was also the day I'd planned to move Betty out to the new place. The rain was coming out sideways when we were trying to load her. After the last trip, Betty was none too sure about getting back into one of those metal contraptions. It took a few minutes and a few times halfway in and then back out, but then she loaded like a dream. It was only a short drive, but by the time we got there the rain had stopped. 

She will eventually be sharing space with a sweet gelding named, Z, but for now, they are going to get to know each other over the fence. She quickly settled in to graze and didn't even look up when I said goodbye. 

Which brings us to today, Tuesday. I only had a few minutes to stop by after work, but I was able to sneak in a quick training session. I was delighted that she stuck to our catching system in her new, bigger pasture. I'm nervous to announce Goal #1 as accomplished, but it's looking like she is willing to keep working on it even with more room to get away from me if she wants. I decided to keep it simple and review our work with her feet. She needed a little reminder on keeping her feet still when I rubbed her legs, but she remembered our previous lessons quickly and was very well behaved while I handled all four feet. I worked on getting her more comfortable with bringing her front feet forwards to continue preparing for her first real trim in a few weeks. I used a rope behind her pastern to encourage her to lift her leg forward and up. It only took a few repetitions for her to get the idea, and she lifted both front feet for me several times before we called it quits. 

Starting at the beginning...

My first horse, Mack. He is the sweetest guy. We both learned a lot from each other in our years together, and I'm so happy that his new owner keeps him at my barn so I get to see his sweet mug every time I go to the barn. He's turning thirteen next week, and it's been ten years since he became mine... but he's old news.

This is the new kid, Betty. She's a 5 year old rescue mare I met when I visited R.E.A.C.H. Equine Rescue a few weeks ago. She's cute, sweet, and a quick learner. I knew the first time I held her lead rope, she was gonna be my horse. Since there was already a trailer making the trip over here, it was an easy decision. She arrived on a beautiful Sunday afternoon, calmly unloaded from the trailer (her first trip in a straight load), and went about munching grass like she'd lived there her whole life. Her laid back approach to new things and her high level of food motivation have made our training sessions so far seem effortless.

Seriously, how could you not bring home a face like this??

Betty can be a bit hard to catch, and she's had only limited handling. So, she's pretty much a clean slate, and I'm starting her training at the very beginning. I have two immediate training goals that I've been working on for the past three days. 

The view you get most when trying to catch Betty. Not too bad...

Goal #1: Create a catching routine. Due to the difficulty catching her, folks at the rescue have had to employ tricks and bribes to get a halter on her.  Betty has become very wise to people's tricks and normally chooses to evade contact rather than interact. The most logical path from A to B, in this instance, seems to be clicker training. As I mentioned earlier, Miss Piggy loves food, and, as a bonus, she is willing to work for it. Because I will be moving her to a larger pasture soon, I need to get her on board with the idea that getting caught isn't such a bad thing. I'm taking things really slow and doing them in a consistent order to build her confidence that there won't be any surprises sneaking up on her. 

Our progress so far...

Day 1- We worked on charging the clicker by doing lots of click treat repetitions. This gave her a reason to be near me, but she was free to leave at any time. She learned she could earn a click and a treat by touching my hand with her nose. Once I felt she was confident with what the clicker was about, we moved on to putting on the halter. It took about ten minutes, but we laid the groundwork for her future routine. 

Day 2- We started our session remembering that she could touch my hand for a treat. It took a little bit longer to catch her, but because she wasn't able to run away in her small paddock, she looked for a better option. I would click if she turned to face me, and this made it easy to start the catching routine by letting her touch my hand for a treat. 

Day 3- Yesterday was a teaching day, so we did two short sessions in between lessons. The first was short and sweet. We got right down to the point, she let me catch her without any running off or other silliness, she earned a click and a treat at each point in the routine, and then I turned her loose and left her to graze. Our second session was very similar. She still has the urge to run away when I am slipping the halter over her ears, but she is doing much better about dealing with it while keeping her feet still. 

These feet need some work ASAP!

Goal #2: Get a hoof trim. Betty is a little behind on her hoof maintenance. Part of the reason is probably because she's not great about having her feet handled. This goes along with her general attitude that people are up to no good and should be avoided. The clicker is helping her find a reason to participate here, too, and I really hope to be able to get her front feed trimmed by the end of the week. Her hinds aren't as bad, and she also has a harder time holding them up; they may take a few more days before she's ready to have them trimmed.

Our progress so far...

Day 1- When we started, Betty wanted no part of me touching her legs. I used an approach and retreat method to get her more comfortable, and she was able to earn a click and treat by keeping her legs still while I handled them. We went from running in a circle every time I reached for a leg to standing calmly waiting for her treat while I ran my hands up and down all four legs. 

Day 2- We picked up right where we had left off the previous session. After a brief review of touching the all four legs, I added touching her hind legs with a training stick and swinging the string toward and around her legs. She quickly decided standing and eating treats was the best response to this situation as well. She also learned to pick up all four feet on command. Although, she was much more confident with the front feet; she even offered a little hangtime before putting them back down. 

Day 3- After a quick review of "stand still" and "pick up your feet", we advanced to the next step on the way to a farrier visit. By the end of our session, I was able to hold all four feet for at least a few seconds. From here, I'm hoping, we will be able to build the length of time holding her feet fairly quickly. We also did a lot of hanging around in the arena while lessons were going on. She seemed interested in the going's on, and she even snuggled a little while I sat on the rail and taught. 

I'm so excited to have a project pony. Feels like returning home. I'm excited to be going through the process again and looking for ways to do it better than I did last time. There will always be mistakes, and I'll always strive to be better. I think this mare has real promise, and I'm excited to help her shine.

Click, Treat, Repeat

I've been experimenting with some clicker training with one of my horses. I stayed away from this method for a long time because I want my horses to be obedient because I asked them to, not because they know I have a treat in my pocket. I still feel that way, but decided to give it a try with Wilson. He's a sweet boy, but he isn't great at connecting the dots to figure out what I want. In addition, he gets a little flustered and frustrated when he doesn't understand what is expected of him. I thought this would be an effective way to provide him with better feedback to help him learn.

So far, we've done two sessions, and we both like it! We started our first session introducing the concept. When his head was straight ahead, he got a click and a treat. He doesn't get treats very often so was offering his Flehmen response "smile" frequently. I went ahead and gave it a cue... and... Viola!! He had learned his first trick. It was almost too easy. Next we worked on targeting (touching with his nose) a tennis ball stuck on the end of my whip. It was interesting watching his learning process. He had a few good touch, click, treat repetitions, but then he had to check the limits. He touched the stick, the handle, my hand, my pocket, and then he just stopped and looked at me for a minute.... And then he bit the ball. He had made the connection. Ball= good. Everything else= no cookie.

Our second session was much the same, and I was able to add the "touch" cue to the target work. We worked on touching a cone and targeting the ball in different places.

I'm excited to add a new method to my bag of tricks. I hope to use the clicker to train showmanship maneuvers and some stretching and strengthening exercises like belly lifts.

Are You Feelin' It?

I recently stumbled across this article entitled, "The Timing and Coordination of the Aides", by Thomas Ritter. One of my pitfalls as a rider is poor feel. I have worked diligently to improve this area, but my riding is still more intellectual and instinct based than feel based. While this has worked for me at the level which I currently ride, if I want to continue to improve, I need to seriously work on this area. I particularly liked the way he explained what the rider feels at each stage of the movement of the horse's leg. Here are some nuggets:

"The rider’s pelvis is connected to the horse’s pelvis. The movement of the horse’s hips communicates itself to the rider’s seatbones. When the hind leg touches down and carries the load, the rider’s pelvis gets pulled back a little toward the cantle. This is most clearly noticeable at the walk. At the same time, the rider feels a little bump under his seat bone on the same side, because the horse’s hip rises as the hind leg touches down. The rider also feels a pulse in the rein of the same side at the same time. There is also a little impact in the stirrup that the rider can feel in his toes."

"When the rider’s seat is pulled forward in the saddle, the hind leg that had just touched down has passed the vertical and is now pushing the load forward. The hip and hock are extending, while the stifle is flexing. This is most noticeable to the rider in the walk and the second beat of the canter, when the inside hind leg and outside front leg are on the ground together. This is the moment in which the driving seat aid can be applied with success, in order to ask the horse to push more and lengthen his stride. "

While this has all been explained to me previously (over and over and over), for some reason I wasn't able to put the pieces together into anything useful. Ritter's descriptions helped me bridge the gap between what I understand intellectually, and what I will actually be feeling as the horse moves. This allows me to put much more of the theory I understand into action.

Now it was time to practice. I was focusing on feeling the different motions in my seat as my horse used his hind legs and adjusting "air time" and "ground time" of these legs. I tried this out on two of my horses, Wilson and Jasper.

Wilson is often labeled as a "western horse". This is horse people code for he doesn't like to pick up his feet. As we rode I was working to keep him straight with his shoulders in front of my hips and using my seat to accentuate the sliding forward part of the stride to help him take longer strides. We were seeking more air time in his stride, and it was hard work for both of us. Eventually he put the pieces together, and this led to a much more balanced trot without as many tries to go up to the "easier" canter.

Jasper is naturally a forward mover, but he has a traction problem. When his hind end gets out of control, he wants to buck to get it back underneath him. During our ride, I was focused on the backwards feeling in my seat to help him keep his feet on the ground just a little bit longer. This helped reduce the number of times he lost traction. At times he would get bogged down, but by wrapping my legs around his belly and lifting with my calf, I was able to bring him back together.

At all times during both rides, I was very conscious of how I was influencing my horses. When my seat was not balanced and even, they would inevitably follow me into crooked oblivion. That's when we would start all over again. Working with the mechanics of the horse in order to most effectively affect their way of going takes a lot of concentration on my part, but ultimately leads to a horse and rider team who appear seamless.

Before it seems totally out of place...

I guess I could introduce myself and a few of the people/ponies I will end up talking about.

This is me and my four (4?!?!) horses. I started riding with some regularity at 7 years of age. I attended local horse camps and took group lessons for several years. In my early teen years I rode with a great horseman and friend named Pastor Joe. He kept a few horses around for fun, and we team penned, trail rode, and did some reining. It was all a lot of fun, but I wasn't getting a ton of riding education at this point. I got my first horse for my fifteen birthday; Mack was a coming three year old quarter horse. Pastor Joe and his son got him started for me and then turned over the reins to me,  and that's when I realized I was totally out of my depth! I started taking lessons at a local barn with a great instructor named Kristal. I was able to rapidly improve my riding with regular lessons, and I also really enjoyed learning how to train my horse. When I turned eighteen, Kristal offered me a job teaching lessons. I participated in an instructor training course, and I went through CHA certification. That pretty much brings us up to now. I've been teaching for five years, and I'm now focusing on developing my training skills. I teach about 20 students on a weekly basis, and my favorites are 4-H kids :)

And now for the ponies! On the far left is Trip. He's an 8yo AQHA gelding. I've owned him since July, and he's a retired roper. He's going to be competing in 4-H this year, and I'm participating in a cattle sorting series with him this winter. Next in is Duke, my 11yo paint gelding. He's a really versatile guy who enjoys trails, performance, and cattle work. He's leased by one of my adult students, and I hope someday soon she'll be able to buy him. The handsome fella with the blue halter is Jasper. In December of 2010, he was rescued from the Enumclaw Sales Pavilion. His stall card read "6 year old gelding, has bucking problem". YIKES! But a good friend of mine saw the good in him and brought him home. He came to live with me in September to compete in 4-H and act as one of our school horses in the lesson program. He really excels in dressage, although with some work I think he'll be a great all around guy. Last but not least, Cricket is that cutie in the red halter. He's an 11yo POA. He's a busy boy and will be showing in 4-H with 2 riders this year. He loves to jump, but also participates in performance, dressage, and gaming. When he's not busy preparing for the show season, he also gives a few lessons when we need a fill in. 

There's a lot more folks in this cast of characters, but I really needed to use this picture up before July when the santa hats would be too silly ;)