Whoop! Last night was the first time Walker and I cantered together, and that was at Liberty (no rope, no halter). We were very lucky to have the arena to ourselves last night, so we took advantage of it by playing together, first on line then at Liberty. I am pretty sure Walker did not quite feel the connection between my movement and his yet, as when I tried to move down to a trot, he did not do it until I asked him down with the carrot stick, but that will come in time. It was an amazing feeling. What a privilege to have an animal of so much intelligence and natural fear of predators to canter with me. Maybe the best part is he now circles me, and I don't need a round pen to do it.
I look forward to the day that we feel that connection in the saddle. There have been glimpses . . .
He also stood up on the pedestal at Liberty, but I can tell he is still a little unsure about it. He almost walked over it, but got a little worried, so we went and worked on our sideways game again. No need to push the issue, he'll come around in time; so far he always has.
He is so funny about using his hind end at the trot and sideways! But his resistance is starting to crumble, as he kicks out less and less, and I can tell he is really trying, beginning to understand better what I am asking him to do. I can see his stomach muscles starting to work as he gets under himself at all of the gaits, and I know we are progressing in the right direction.
The best thing is that I never anger or frustration to get the better of me anymore. I have learned to stop and think about what we are doing and how I might approach things differently so he can understand better, have more clarity. Sometimes he just resists, but those times get fewer and fewer.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Monday, September 21, 2009
Crazy Bridge Drivers
Trail riding joy
Saturday (Sept. 19, 2009) was a great day on the trail. We live near the Gulf Coast, making us vulnerable to heavy rains. So here in Sienna Plantation we have a series of levies to prevent flooding. The benefit for us is lots of riding trails we can use. Even better, there is usually great grass we can take advantage of as a reward and rest for the horses.
My friend Wendy keeps her horse, Bingo, at Sienna Stables where Walker is. In fact, Bingo and Walker stay in stalls right next to each other, and they go to the same turnout each day. So they know each other really well, which makes heading out to the trail even better. Bingo is a very handsome white on bay paint. He is also a very clever left brained introvert/extrovert, so reading him can sometimes be a real challenge. Lucky for Bingo, Wendy is more than up to the task.
Last year, Wendy had decided that the advice she was getting about many of the "issues" she was having with Bingo was just not working, so she also decided to go down the Parelli Natural Horsemanship path. Wendy and Bingo have made some really big breakthrough moments, but maybe none as fun and thrilling as yesterday.
We decided at the start that we would ask more of our horses this day, with lots long trotting. And, if all went well, we would allow Bingo and Walker some good rests and grass along the way. What we did not know was that our horses were going to offer us even more than we asked.
We warmed them up on the ground and then both of us did the dressage Training Level 2 Test, which Wendy and Bingo had never done before. Wendy was a little concerned that Bingo might struggle with the canter, but she was pleasantly surprised by his performance, so the day started really well. It was going to end really well, too.
We started the trail by walking with impulsion. Both Walker and Bingo seemed very happy to be heading out from the barn.The trail starts by going north with the baseball fields on the left and under the train bridge adjacent to the barn on the right. But first, we always have to go west over a large levy bridge that serves the recreation area where the ball fields are located. This can be tricky on a Saturday morning, because even with horses on the bridge, some people feel the need to blow by us in their cars going ridiculously fast. Seriously, what are they trying to save, 10 seconds less to the parking lots? Fortunately, both Walker and Bingo are very calm about the whole thing, thanks to our training, but it makes us angry that some people have so little regard for other people and our animals safety. It really makes my blood boil. Probably does no good for my blood pressure! Anyway, I digress . . .
We started with a nice warm-up walk. We followed that up with a steady medium trot that ended at a turn in the levy. We stopped briefly to give the horses a little grass, as we knew the next stretch would be fairly long. The grass there was really tall, and Walker and Bingo enjoyed the break.
We then turned east along the levy and began a long stretch of trotting and posting, slowed to a walk to cross a tight drainage area, then picked up an accelerated trot. Wendy and I were floating over our saddles to really free up their movement. Walker normally likes to follow Bingo, but I urged him forward to come level with Bingo. Neither horse interpreted this as an invitation to race, instead, they synced up with one another for a good 50 yards. What fun! Wendy and I slowed them down as we approached the next drainage bridge area, and we both started laughing at how good that stretch felt with our two very different horses getting in rhythm with each other.
We then crossed the drainage bridge and picked up the trot again. Wendy was having a little trouble getting Bingo to feel how to get more rounded, so we slowed to a walk and I helped her focus on steadying her hands and getting them in the right position so Bingo could more easily move into the bit without feeling claustrophobic or nagged. We also talked about taking up more feel in the reins so he could real feel what Wendy was asking for. They made some good progress over about a 100 yard stretch asking for better rounding with a more impulsive walk, so we stopped again for a grass break. As we had finally gotten a little rain last week, the grass was so lush that neither horse needed to move for a good 10 minutes as Wendy and I chatted and the they ate.
Finally, we headed back in the direction we had come. Interestingly, neither horse moved any faster than they had before, either at the walk or trot. However, Walker now felt brave enough to take the lead, so we set the pace going back. At one point, Walker had some trouble staying at the trot, breaking into a canter instead of staying at the trot. He did this twice, so the second time, after bringing him back to a trot, I asked for the canter. What a great feeling when your horse comes up under you at the canter! Wendy had not really experienced this before with Bingo, but when she saw us canter, Bingo felt so calm, she asked for the canter with contact, and he came up under her in a very relaxed, steady canter. I knew something good was happening behind us when I heard Wendy laughing. When we stopped for our last grass break, she had an enormous smile on her face. She described their canter as "floating" and "free". That it was by far, "the best canter Bingo has ever given me!" And that it felt as though he really enjoyed the bit contact, that he had not avoided it, but had actually moved into it. What a great breakthrough moment for both of them.
We turned south towards the barn at a nice walk. We continued on under the train bridge, and as we got closer to the barn, both Bingo and Walker started walking more and more slowly, resisting the direction we were asking for. The only way for us to interpret this was that, instead of being "barn sour" they actually did not want to go back to the barn! How great is it when your horse would rather be with you then at the barn? The good news for them, of course, is that they weren't going to stay at the barn, we turned them out after a nice hose down. When Walker and Bingo got to the turnout, they both drank deeply from the water trough and then they calmly began to graze.
So to the question, " Was that as good for you as it was for me?", Walker and Bingo's answer was "Yes!" What a great morning for all of us.
My friend Wendy keeps her horse, Bingo, at Sienna Stables where Walker is. In fact, Bingo and Walker stay in stalls right next to each other, and they go to the same turnout each day. So they know each other really well, which makes heading out to the trail even better. Bingo is a very handsome white on bay paint. He is also a very clever left brained introvert/extrovert, so reading him can sometimes be a real challenge. Lucky for Bingo, Wendy is more than up to the task.
Last year, Wendy had decided that the advice she was getting about many of the "issues" she was having with Bingo was just not working, so she also decided to go down the Parelli Natural Horsemanship path. Wendy and Bingo have made some really big breakthrough moments, but maybe none as fun and thrilling as yesterday.
We decided at the start that we would ask more of our horses this day, with lots long trotting. And, if all went well, we would allow Bingo and Walker some good rests and grass along the way. What we did not know was that our horses were going to offer us even more than we asked.
We warmed them up on the ground and then both of us did the dressage Training Level 2 Test, which Wendy and Bingo had never done before. Wendy was a little concerned that Bingo might struggle with the canter, but she was pleasantly surprised by his performance, so the day started really well. It was going to end really well, too.
We started the trail by walking with impulsion. Both Walker and Bingo seemed very happy to be heading out from the barn.The trail starts by going north with the baseball fields on the left and under the train bridge adjacent to the barn on the right. But first, we always have to go west over a large levy bridge that serves the recreation area where the ball fields are located. This can be tricky on a Saturday morning, because even with horses on the bridge, some people feel the need to blow by us in their cars going ridiculously fast. Seriously, what are they trying to save, 10 seconds less to the parking lots? Fortunately, both Walker and Bingo are very calm about the whole thing, thanks to our training, but it makes us angry that some people have so little regard for other people and our animals safety. It really makes my blood boil. Probably does no good for my blood pressure! Anyway, I digress . . .
We started with a nice warm-up walk. We followed that up with a steady medium trot that ended at a turn in the levy. We stopped briefly to give the horses a little grass, as we knew the next stretch would be fairly long. The grass there was really tall, and Walker and Bingo enjoyed the break.
We then turned east along the levy and began a long stretch of trotting and posting, slowed to a walk to cross a tight drainage area, then picked up an accelerated trot. Wendy and I were floating over our saddles to really free up their movement. Walker normally likes to follow Bingo, but I urged him forward to come level with Bingo. Neither horse interpreted this as an invitation to race, instead, they synced up with one another for a good 50 yards. What fun! Wendy and I slowed them down as we approached the next drainage bridge area, and we both started laughing at how good that stretch felt with our two very different horses getting in rhythm with each other.
We then crossed the drainage bridge and picked up the trot again. Wendy was having a little trouble getting Bingo to feel how to get more rounded, so we slowed to a walk and I helped her focus on steadying her hands and getting them in the right position so Bingo could more easily move into the bit without feeling claustrophobic or nagged. We also talked about taking up more feel in the reins so he could real feel what Wendy was asking for. They made some good progress over about a 100 yard stretch asking for better rounding with a more impulsive walk, so we stopped again for a grass break. As we had finally gotten a little rain last week, the grass was so lush that neither horse needed to move for a good 10 minutes as Wendy and I chatted and the they ate.
Finally, we headed back in the direction we had come. Interestingly, neither horse moved any faster than they had before, either at the walk or trot. However, Walker now felt brave enough to take the lead, so we set the pace going back. At one point, Walker had some trouble staying at the trot, breaking into a canter instead of staying at the trot. He did this twice, so the second time, after bringing him back to a trot, I asked for the canter. What a great feeling when your horse comes up under you at the canter! Wendy had not really experienced this before with Bingo, but when she saw us canter, Bingo felt so calm, she asked for the canter with contact, and he came up under her in a very relaxed, steady canter. I knew something good was happening behind us when I heard Wendy laughing. When we stopped for our last grass break, she had an enormous smile on her face. She described their canter as "floating" and "free". That it was by far, "the best canter Bingo has ever given me!" And that it felt as though he really enjoyed the bit contact, that he had not avoided it, but had actually moved into it. What a great breakthrough moment for both of them.
We turned south towards the barn at a nice walk. We continued on under the train bridge, and as we got closer to the barn, both Bingo and Walker started walking more and more slowly, resisting the direction we were asking for. The only way for us to interpret this was that, instead of being "barn sour" they actually did not want to go back to the barn! How great is it when your horse would rather be with you then at the barn? The good news for them, of course, is that they weren't going to stay at the barn, we turned them out after a nice hose down. When Walker and Bingo got to the turnout, they both drank deeply from the water trough and then they calmly began to graze.
So to the question, " Was that as good for you as it was for me?", Walker and Bingo's answer was "Yes!" What a great morning for all of us.
Friday, September 18, 2009
Entering my first Dressage Schooling Show and getting sage advise from someone who knows the "normal" and "natural" world
I told my friend Nancy about entering my first schooling dressage show next week, and she had some pretty great things to say about it, so I decided, with her permission, to quote her here:
"Looking at the partnership through the microscope of showing is more important than winning. It gives the process way more meaning and gives me a new way of seeing things."
"I think going to a show is a great challenge. It's not so much the judging and competition that is the big deal."
"Can I get us to the place we need to be at the time required? Can I read my horse and know what he needs or sometimes more importantly what he doesn't? Can I accomplish this at the moment that I need him to be his best? Can I get myself there as well? For the new at showing: Can I control my emotions? Can I deal with my ego? Can I deal with all the other human distractions? Can I maintain a focus with all the unexpected things that happen at the show? All of these factors multiple your relationship issues and test your weaknesses a hundred fold. To me this is the ultimate read on where you are. This is what I have come to love about competing."
"I think you will find the showing experince both fun, in all the ways we talked about, and bizarre. The bizarre will come from the "normal" world. People will be focusing on more external forces such as "OMG the ground at X is boggy", or "there is not enough warm up space", or "so and so just did what ever"... it will consume some. The thing that always makes me laugh is that they usually find something they 1) can't control and 2) is a negative then focus and fixate on it. They just can't seem to help themselves. This was always good b/c I knew I had them beat before I ever stepped into the ring. The other thing I think you will find interesting is all the folks that are requiring external validation, usually from their trainer and and/or friends."
My plan is always to be as prepared as we can be; skills, understanding of the rules, clothing, tools, etc. So, regardless of what level we attain, for Walker and me the question at a show will always be, when we have to, can we?
When we have to, can we? Every show will answer that question. And my training should always have that question in the back of my mind. This will mean that our relationship will have to be really good. Because some days, he may not feel like doing what I am asking, but he'll do it anyway, for me.
"Looking at the partnership through the microscope of showing is more important than winning. It gives the process way more meaning and gives me a new way of seeing things."
"I think going to a show is a great challenge. It's not so much the judging and competition that is the big deal."
"I think you will find the showing experince both fun, in all the ways we talked about, and bizarre. The bizarre will come from the "normal" world. People will be focusing on more external forces such as "OMG the ground at X is boggy", or "there is not enough warm up space", or "so and so just did what ever"... it will consume some. The thing that always makes me laugh is that they usually find something they 1) can't control and 2) is a negative then focus and fixate on it. They just can't seem to help themselves. This was always good b/c I knew I had them beat before I ever stepped into the ring. The other thing I think you will find interesting is all the folks that are requiring external validation, usually from their trainer and and/or friends."
My plan is always to be as prepared as we can be; skills, understanding of the rules, clothing, tools, etc. So, regardless of what level we attain, for Walker and me the question at a show will always be, when we have to, can we?
When we have to, can we? Every show will answer that question. And my training should always have that question in the back of my mind. This will mean that our relationship will have to be really good. Because some days, he may not feel like doing what I am asking, but he'll do it anyway, for me.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Is it possible to get misty-eyed when your horse urinates in your presence?
The answer of course is, yes, since that is exactly what happened to me yesterday. After being cooped up all day in his stall as the turnouts were still really sloppy, we went out in front of the barn for some relaxed grazing. Because of all the rain, the grass was nice and tall, so Walker got right down to business. I read a book while he grazed. At first, with the cars whizzing by, he was a little nervous, but he settled down nicely once he got focused on the grass. For the first time in 5 1/2 years, Walker felt comfortable enough with me to pee out in the open right in front of me. He very politely walked a little way from me, which got my attention since he had hardly moved at all while grazing. Then he did the four point spread and peed for a good 40 seconds or so. Wow! Before, if I came up to the stall while he was peeing, he would immediately stop as if I had invaded his privacy or startled him enough to want to flee. And unlike people, this may be Walker's way of telling me the honeymoon has finally started.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Having a willing instructor
It would be a "shame on me" moment if I did not thank Cody for being the kind of person who is willing to work with me in our training sessions. I understand what she is saying regarding spurs, and I totally admit that she is absolutely right that Walker is blowing off my leg cues. What I told her was that I did not feel ready for the spurs. I really felt that to use them at this point would be to "force" my horse to listen, when what I really need to do is get him even more hooked on to me both on the ground and in the saddle. We are working on that, and I think last weekend proved that what we work on together progresses naturally and sometimes quite rapidly. How smart is my horse? He gets smarter every time I have an "ah-ha" moment!
So, thank you, Cody! It took me a long time to find you, and I am so happy you are right here in my own backyard. You are a most unusual combination of brains, passion, common sense and optimism. The fact that you love and understand Arabs in no small measure adds to your list of positive attributes.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Impulsion Breakthrough, spurless!
What a fabulous training session Walker, Cody and I had on Friday afternoon. Walker was in a very snotty mood, jumping through the arena gate as though he was about to run down a quarter mile track. I did not like that very much, so I asked him in and out of the gate backwards until he softened just a bit.
We then took advantage of Walker's extra energy from being cooped up in his stall for two days and put it to work moving out at the trot. We started with a simple Dressage test and basically slopped it up. Then Cody had us do something we are calling "racetrack", getting Walker to really move out at the trot around the arena. Walker tried his usual "Oh no, I've never seen that judging stand before" moves. No one can bend away from an object like my wonderful Arab! Unless of course, it's my leg. Anyway, without spurs, I really engaged my focusing molecules and insisted that he stay focused on the game under hoof. What happened next was pure magic. For the first time ever, Walker really moved out at what Cody called a medium trot, and it felt like riding water skis on a very calm lake. She then asked me to hover over Walker's back using my knees as shock absorbers. It was an ncredible feeling, like floating on the wind. For the first time ever, I was able to concentrate on what I was doing as much and even more than what Walker was doing under saddle.
We took that momentum into the dressage area, sitting the trot. The next amazing sensation was the feeling of being glued to the saddle as a result of his getting rounder and coming up to meet me. I did not have to push him at all at this point as he seemed to really be getting into flow of our momentum. We then did the test again and knocked it out of the park, at least for this stage in our development. Cody felt that we probably would have scored a 61, which she described as respectable. To me, it felt like heaven on earth, a number could not possibly describe that hour with my horse. Funny thing was, I could almost hear Cody in my head giving me mental nudges, a shoulder roll here, a leg suggestion there. This is the first time I have really felt "savvy" in the saddle. We had nibbled around it for the last year, but today we were squarely in the freestyle and finesse "savvy zone".
Here may be the best part: I was really exercised and sweating, having used muscles under saddle that I really had never used before, especially hovering over the saddle while trotting. Walker was not breathing hard at all. When we were done with our second test and stopped in the middle of the arena, he just gave a big sigh, as if to say, "I had that in me all along!" If he could, he might have pulled out a hoof rasp and nonchalantly started to trim his own hooves in complete self satisfaction. I love my right/left brained extrovert. He got lots of cookies, which he enjoyed immensely. What a day!
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Level II Parelli finally filmed
Yesterday, Wendy was nice enough to help me tape my Level II freestyle DVD. As soon as I get it downloaded, I will be sending off to the Parelli Center. I was disappointed that Walker was not more impulsive, but he was very willing depsite this. It is hard to get everything into 10 minutes in order the way you would ideally like to do it, but I also know that it should show our level of savvy, not so much how well all of the tasks were accomplished.
Circling "Lunging" and pedestal at Liberty
Last Sunday night was pretty special . . . with Liz and Sandra at the barn watching, Walker circled me at liberty walking, trotting (both gaits he had done before circling at liberty). But on Sunday night, he cantered as well. Amazing considering where we started 5 years ago . . . when he could not go in a circle on line without losing his mind and galloping madly until I would disengage his hind quarters. This is the horse who ran over my friend, Nancy, ass over tea kettle in an eventual successful attempt to get him in a horse trailer. I still remember being terrified that my "crazy' horse had trampled Nancy in a fit of terror at the prospect of entering that cave on wheels.
To add to my amazement, when I asked him to put his two front feet on my pedestal, with only a bit of hemming, he obliged. Again, at liberty! What an accomplishment for the two of us. This was followed by feeding him lots of cookies and smiles and some good stretching to finish the night.
To add to my amazement, when I asked him to put his two front feet on my pedestal, with only a bit of hemming, he obliged. Again, at liberty! What an accomplishment for the two of us. This was followed by feeding him lots of cookies and smiles and some good stretching to finish the night.
Spurs?
My dressage instructor suggested the use of spurs to get Walker to listen better to my leg. I have not decided, after having used them under her supervision, whether I want to do this or not, at least not yet. I want to see if I can put my imagination to work to get him to do what I am asking.
So, this weekend, I decided I would get very focused on making any idea he has, that is not also my idea, very difficult. On that note, when he started moving away from the rail when I was focused on staying on the rail, I turned that thought of his into a very tight circle, maintaining whatever gait we were using. This resulted in a great deal of very tight trotting circles. If he argued with doing a full circle, I asked for an even tighter second circle. We did lots of circles that day! When he got more interested in going straight, I quit that task and moved on to something else.
I am now very committed to following this prescription every time we ride. I will be interested to see how long it takes him to decide it is not worth arguing with me about where we are going. I suspect this will lead to greater respect in other areas as well, but time will tell.
No spurs for now!
So, this weekend, I decided I would get very focused on making any idea he has, that is not also my idea, very difficult. On that note, when he started moving away from the rail when I was focused on staying on the rail, I turned that thought of his into a very tight circle, maintaining whatever gait we were using. This resulted in a great deal of very tight trotting circles. If he argued with doing a full circle, I asked for an even tighter second circle. We did lots of circles that day! When he got more interested in going straight, I quit that task and moved on to something else.
I am now very committed to following this prescription every time we ride. I will be interested to see how long it takes him to decide it is not worth arguing with me about where we are going. I suspect this will lead to greater respect in other areas as well, but time will tell.
No spurs for now!
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