Liberty with Maverick

Walker ran a fever after getting his vaccinations yesterday, so my plan to ride him was shelved for a couple of days until he feels better. He had a fever of 104 degrees, I got it down to 103 with a good 20 minute hose down, and then gave him some bute to help get it under control overnight. Thankfully, he had a normal temp today, so he should be good to go again tomorrow, thank goodness.

So, after tending to Walker, I did not have a lot of energy to play, and I thought a brief liberty session with Maverick would be just perfect. And it was.

Maverick seemed to have a lot of energy, so the first thing I did was send him on some circles in the small indoor arena. He flew around a few times, then when he softened a bit, I asked him in. He came at me with his chest out and his ears in a very aerodynamic position, so I asked him to stop until he gave me semaphore ears, which he did very quickly. I never had to ask for happy ears again, he gave them to me the rest of the evening. Wendy and I have both been playing diligently with this, and it has really paid off. 

What a fast learner he is. I sent him out again, bringing him back in sooner this time, and he gave me happy ears every time after that! Smart boy! He did two more really nice trotting circles then tried to come in behind me. I should have let him, my bad, as the circles he gave me after that were not as good looking. He knew when he had performed well, and I did not recognize it. I’ll not to do that again. I have to reward him for giving me that kind of effort.

We followed that with the driving game forehand around the hindquarters from zones 1 and 3. He gave me two or three really nice steps in each direction. Next, we did the porcupine game backwards from the tail and he gave me three dead straight steps from both sides, WOW! He has really figured that one out fast.

We finished up with squeezing between me and the fence, go out on the circle, disengage the hindquarters then into the sideways, and he gave me three beautiful sideways steps in both directions. He has really figured that one out fast too, we have only played with it for about 5 days. Of course, I had to quit on that note! Fed him cookies, told him what a smart, obedient horse he is, rubbed his belly and then lead him at Liberty into his stall for the night. What a fabulous session. I love my two horses!

Both photos of Maverick are from a month ago, when our grass here was still green. The Mississippi is flooding and we are in a major drought. Now our grass is more the color of desert fatigues.

Hamstrings and the healing horses bring

It's been awhile since I have posted, mostly because I have been recovering from partially tearing my right hamstring muscle and straining my left one. Simply, I was playing with Maverick in the outdoor arena. I was asking him to canter on a right circle, but then he veered off to the left. As I turned to bring him back, I stepped forward, caught my right heel in the deep dirt of the arena, and as Mav pulled me forward, my hamstring distinctly "popped". As I was off balance, my next step with my left foot also landed on its heel, and that hamstring got strained before I finally let go of the rope and landed on my face in the arena dirt.

I tried to get up, but saw multi-colored lights clouding my vision and told myself, "Ohh,  back down, Isabelle, going back down!" I bent over, caught myself with my right hand then laid back down on my back. Poor Maverick, he had no idea what to do, stepped on his rope as he tried to get to me and stopped.

We were like that for about fifteen minutes when I decided to try getting to my feet again. Again, a no go, saw lights again, felt really nauseous, got back down.  At this point, I was really hoping someone would show up. I had called Ben, but he was about 45 minutes away. Five minutes after that, I hear voices, but I can't seem to raise my voice, the pain in my hamstrings was starting to throb.

Now Mav decides he is going to roll with my saddle on his back. I got up long enough to swing my carrot stick and savvy string, preventing him from rolling all the way over on the saddle. He popped up, shook himself off, but did not approach or retreat, he just hung out looking at me. I went right back down, still very shaky and unstable.

Fortunately, I see Erica and Katie coming through the gate leading from the barn, but they haven't quite figured out what I am doing sitting up sideways in the arena dirt. I wave them over and they quicken their pace as they come through the arena gate, now realizing I am down not because I am playing some Parelli game with Maverick, but am hurt.

Katie gets the gator, and they help me in, SLOWLY. As Katie drives me to the office, Erica gets Mav and unsaddles him, returning him to his turnout. I never got into the saddle that day! Erica and Katie took very good care of me until Ben could come and get me. They put ice under my neck and both legs as I laid on the ground until my blood pressure rose back to normal and I could sit up. Nausea did not last either. I really have to thank Katie and Erica for taking good care of me. They were angels of mercy that day.

The first week, I felt pretty sorry for myself. The pain was intense and the injury really restricted what I could do. I am not one to stay in that frame of mind long, but I would not want to repeat that week any time soon. I was grouchy and out of sorts, and I have not felt so fatigued in a long time. I don't like the feeling of being so physically unstable and vulnerable.


It's taken a couple of weeks to feel good enough to try riding again. This injury has taken a lot of energy out of me, but it's coming back pretty quicky. When I checked my saddle on Friday, it was covered in dirt. It took me awhile to get it cleaned and oiled, but it was still in one piece, thank goodness. I have kept my sessions short, but both Walker and Mav have taken good care of me while we have ridden.

In fact, Walker has been able to pick up his left lead much more easily, I think partly because he got a couple of weeks rest and partly because Dr. Doval, our chiropractor,  adjusted his hips back into place. In fact, he was flowing almost as well from the left lead as from the right, not choppy the way he was moving on the left lead before I got hurt.

Some people would think I would want to avoid my horses after such an incident, but not me. Being around them helps me heal. Being with them brings me an inner peace hard to find in any other way for me. Mav had no intention of hurting me, it's just that when you are playing with 1200 pound horses, even when you are being careful, bad things can happen. Makes for a steep learning curve, but the rewards for me far out weigh the occasional down sides. 

One weird thing, the second time I posted on Walker, I felt a distinct pop in my left hip near where the hamstring attaches to the hip, and I thought, "Damn, I've done more damage to myself!" I stopped immediately, but the opposite was true, I felt better, as though something had moved back into place. I Had no problem riding all weekend after that, and I was walking better afterwards. I will have to ask Dr. Doval about that one when I see her next.

Oh, did I mention I have a huge bruise on the back of my leg? As though someone had beat me with a baseball bat? It showed up about five days after the original injury, and now the bruise is draining down into my calf, making it look ugly too. Lovely, but healing, thank God...I can't jog yet, but with rehab, in another couple of weeks, I shouldn't be long before I am 100% again.

A trip to Kerri April’s place

My favorite pit stop, Lee County Feed Store. It was really windy, OK?

Cookies?

For the first time since I have been coming to Kerri’s place, I had mixed feelings about leaving. When Walker and I were at Sienna Stables, I could not wait to leave. I looked forward to going somewhere where my horse did not feel like a prisoner.

At Huntington Stables, my horse has such a good life; I feel less of a need to get away. And tomorrow night is Rachel’s going away party at the barn, and I feel badly about missing it.

However, Walker and I really needed time to ourselves. My horse time is now joyfully split between Walker and Maverick, but Walker and I still have lots of learning to do. It is important for me to follow through with him, and two days together is a perfect way for me to focus on him. He deserves my full attention from time to time.

And, I need to further my horsemanship education. For me, there just is no better place or person to get that than from Trails End and Kerri. This feels like such a safe place for me to learn. Kerri has a wonderfully creative yet organized approach to learning.

Pat talks about how we should help our horses feel smart. Kerri creates an environment where the humans are set up to feel smart as well. Growing up, I never knew how good was good enough. With Kerri, I never worry about that. She allows us all to find our own place where we judge what is good enough.

I will always want to achieve at the highest level that is possible for me, but there is no longer any judgment behind it. I do not measure myself solely by my achievements anymore. How I can be of service to others weighs my scales far more heavily than ever now. Too bad it took me so long to understand where my priorities needed to be. That isn’t to say I don’t have plenty of room for improvement there as well, but at least I am finally moving in the right direction.

 

A magical day...

I had a magical day at the barn on Sunday. Walker and I rode bareback, and he was so soft and so responsive. We did some bow tie patterns along the rail at a trot, and all I had to do was look in the direction I wanted, and Walker moved smoothly in beautiful arcs left and right, no reins needed. He stepped up onto the pedestal with all four feet without a pause. We have been having some trouble getting his left lead, but on Sunday he gave me his left lead immediately from a walk, so we quit right there.

I leaned gently on his neck and cried for awhile, stroking him and telling him what a good horse he is. We have come so far together. He has fed my soul and I have fed his. I try not to get angry about the people who had him before me who damaged him, but it is hard. I think of how he could have been here at eight instead of fourteen. But we have lots of years of partnership ahead of us, so I look to the future with joy and gratitude in my heart that Walker came into my life.  

I had brought Bingo with us to graze in the turnout adjacent to the arena, so I hopped off, took the bareback pad, savvy string and cradle bridle off of Walker expecting to let him out to graze also. But before I could, Walker laid down right in front of me and allowed me to join him for the first time. More tears from me, cookies for Walker.

After a couple of minutes, he popped to his feet and I joined him. Then I let him out to graze. Walker and Bingo are a very relaxed pair. Their pecking order has long ago been established, so it’s lovely to watch them calmly graze together, which I did for a few minutes.

Then I went to get Maverick. He willingly came through the gate as soon as he saw me open it. We started online with some friendly, porcupine, driving yo-yo and circle games, and he was very calm and relaxed. So I put my saddle on him  and let him get used to it by doing some more circles with transitions from the walk to the trot to the canter and back down again. Again, he was calm and sure, so once I had my three cinchings done, I got on and we headed to the rail.

What beautiful transitions he gave from a stop to a walk, then to a trot, then back to a stop and a back up. He is still wearing his boots on his back feet to protect the area where he had his hoof abscess, so I did not feel comfortable about cantering him under saddle just yet, but if hadn’t had the boots, I probably would have.

The spring and energy he has! When I post his trot, he just pops me right out of the saddle. Of course, it probably doesn’t hurt that I have now lost 12 pounds. It really is interesting to feel the difference between Walker’s trot and Maverick’s trot. Mav’s trot is so big. I can’t get the grin off my face when we trot together. Walker’s trot has gotten so sugar-footed, I grin with him too, but for very different reasons.

I think I have figured out how we can substitute Maverick’s licking on the ground to something he can feel good about in the saddle. We took lots of breaks in between games, and when we stopped, I stroked his neck over and over until he gave me a big breath. His head would relax down, and I knew he was ready to go again.

We did some bowties, and he still really struggles to get around going left. This will be something to play with both on the ground and in the saddle. Erica, our new barn manager, suggested he may need some massage in the shoulder area to help him, and she is probably right about that. Coincidentally, Sarah left a very detailed horse massage book in her box for me to look at, so I think the universe is telling me to get educated and learn how to do this for my horses.

When Maverick softened just a little doing a left circle, we quit. When I got off, I fed him more cookies and he just licked and licked and licked my hand.
What a sweet horse. It is so much fun learning to sync up with him. There is a part of me that is very much like him, a part that I don’t get to express very often, that of the energetic thinker. We just hung out together like that for quite some time.

Now it was Bingo’s turn. Since Wendy could not get to the barn over the weekend, I asked her if I could play with him some so he would get some exercise and playtime. Bingo is a very interesting, complex horse, so I get the chance to play with him, he always gets my creative juices flowing.

Since Wendy has been having some trouble getting the right lead at the canter, I thought Bingo and I would play with the circle game and see what I could to help him be more responsive on the ground. Maybe this way, he could get that lead more easily in the saddle. We’ll see when Wendy tries again under saddle.

First, we did some porcupine forehand around the hindquarters to get him thinking about his back feet. Then we did small circles where I asked for his shoulders out. Then I asked him to bend his ribs out on the circle. Next, I asked him to do a half-pass on the circle. We did this in both directions, and what beautiful movement he gave me.

He was a little unconfident at first about each of these tasks. Once he understood what I was asking for by my releasing pressure as soon as he gave me what I wanted, he was really flowing on the circle. For a fifteen year old who learned to play with humans later in his life, he really moves with a lot of grace.

Then I asked for the canter from a walk going left; no problem there. I then asked for the right canter, and he did it, but he slopped into it, going to a long trot first. So I transitioned him down, and when he slopped into the trot again, I spanked the ground behind him, and the left brained extrovert showed up. He threw his head around and got fast.

I transitioned him down again and waited until he was completely calm at the walk. Again I asked for the canter, he gave me one trot step and then cantered to the right, beautiful energetic and rhythmic. We quit right there. He got his exercise and playtime all rolled into one. He gave me a big blow when he came to me and I fed him cookies, told him what a smart horse he is.

Three horses, three wonderful play sessions. I did not think it could get better than that. Then the Aggie women beat Stanford in the Women’s Basketball National Championship Semifinals that night, making my day special on so many levels. Life will kick you in the teeth, sometimes when you least expect it, so I have learned not to take such days for granted.

Last night, we watched them beat Notre Dame in the finals. Way to go Texas Aggies! National Champions!