Groundwork. Again?!

After the ordeal that was the latter part of the winter we've been blessed with weeks of sparkling Spring weather!

That's our barn there in the middle. 4 May 2013. Abundant Green!
An unexpected "issue" arose this week. I was bringing L into the barn Wednesday night. And there was a SCARY THING in the barn. A dog bed <sigh>. Right there. On the floor. Where IT DOESN'T BELONG. Sometimes. I swear. So L decided it was ok to run me over to escape this threat. She didn't. But she tried.

She does this now and then because I get sloppy. She's a very good horse and I tend to be..well..undisciplined. Sometimes I don't notice things I should when I handle L. My trainer calls this "letting her get away with stuff". What happens is L loses confidence. In me. She starts to think she has to watch out for herself. She's also a very smart horse and she has to think I'm smarter than she is. It took me a *long* time to figure this out. That's always a challenge. Getting her to think I'm smarter than she is. Or at least wonder about it.

So, for example, as we ride, I have to tell her "no, not now" when she *thinks* of snatching up a mouthful of grass. If she actually snatches up that mouthful of grass? Or even makes a move for it? Too late. And trust me on this, she'll cover a quarter mile of pasture at a dead run snatching up a mouthful of grass with every stride. If she thinks she can.

So the question is not "why did she do that?" but rather, what made her *think* she could do that.

And of course, what to do about it. That's easy. Be the "leader", insist on good manners and be consistent. Always. The hard part is getting her attention. Which is where the groundwork comes in! Or, perhaps better put, showmanship. One needs to *lead* their horse on the ground. Be in control of every move. There's no downside to having solid groundwork and we return to it time and time again. As a matter of fact anytime you handle a horse you're doing groundwork whether you know it or not.

So yesterday we did showmanship. To remind both her and me that "whoa means whoa". We moved every which way and I was sure to have her respect my space. While halted she let her face drift towards a nearby branch. And she snapped at it. I got her across the shoulder with a crop before she'd even wrapped her lips around a leaf. And she leaped backwards 3 feet and looked at me like she was thinking "what's the *matter* with you!" and that was our magic moment. She knew I was paying attention and we were done. This time anyway. It really isn't fair for me to have to do this every year. I got her attention and what I have to do now is just keep her attention.

A horse will never ever *ever*, even "accidentally", bump into a lead horse. Horses *always* know exactly where the lead horse is and will *never* get in its space. A horse willing to get in your space is a "drop everything right now and fix it" thing. And master your showmanship skills. Practice over and over.

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I like this. A lot. Might even be a new favorite.

Anchor Brewing Liberty Ale

Quality Time

L and I both agree. This is Quality Time.

Sunday, 26 August 2012
We'd spent Sunday afternoon doing groundwork. A refresher course of sorts. We don't do that as often as we should. The lesson I have to learn, over and over again mind you, is pay attention.

Pay. Attention.
It can't be overemphasized. L has impeccable manners and she's a pleasure to handle. Mostly. On the ground or under saddle, she will not mess with me as long as (she thinks) I'm paying attention. If she so much as thinks about ripping my arm off to snatch a mouthful of grass and I don't notice? She's going to mess with me. She's a horse.

Same thing under saddle. If she thinks it, and my head's not in the moment, she'll try to take over. Horses are like that. They don't take breaks from the herd. If it's something alpha should notice, and doesn't? Well then? Game on, as they say. Some horses get spooky and flighty. L will just take over.

My trainer says she should be so far beyond even thinking such things. But that's just who L is and we have an understanding. Fortunately she's a good horse and at her worst she's pretty harmless. At her best she's a perfect jewel.

So the lesson is. Pay Attention. It's a subtle thing. She just needs to know I notice. Oh and of course, basics. Always be mindful of basics. Refresher courses are a good thing.

Who picked whom? Part 1.

L on October 26th, 2003, 2 years old.


2003 had been a very bad year.

I'd lost my crazy OTTB over the wintertime. We had been treating him for EPM since November (2002) and while there was an occasional encouraging sign it was a losing battle. My J was dumb as a post but he was as lovable a creature as there ever was. Somehow he and I came to an understanding and we took care of each other. He taught me a lot. I think he was 15 years old and whatever the case, he still had a lot left. I still miss him something awful.

We had several Canadian Horses in our barn. They were all black. Everybody wants black Canadian Horses. I had known of Canadian Horses for a year or two before I knew they came in chestnut. I'm kinda partial to chestnut horses. That's important.

So over the summertime I half leased a lovely (black) Canadian mare. I think she was 4 years old. Green as can be. She was (is) a perfectly lovely animal. Of course she wasn't mine so I was careful not to get too attached. Just as well. There were some barn issues and some drama. Things didn't work out.

By the way. I think every barn needs one of these:

Maybe I'll have some made.

I was half heartedly looking for a Spotted Draft Horse in the fall when it came time to take my B for the long walk. B was my Quarter Horse. He was my first horse. He'd had navicular disease, a painful bone disease in his front feet. It got to where he would hardly take a step without a couple of bute in him and it was time. I never knew his age but our best guess was he was maybe 23 or 24 years old.

It's fair to say in October 2003 I was in a funk of sorts.

My riding partner at the time, M, had also recently lost her horse. She had a arranged a shopping trip to Ferme Litjens in Quebec to look for a Canadian Horse.

I went along for the ride. I wasn't really shopping...

Added October 3, 2010: go on to part 2

Ok, yes, yes I did fall off my horse.

No no, I'm not *that* stupid. I was wearing a helmet! Wear a helmet when you do this stuff! I just don't understand people that don't wear helmets when they ride. Trust me, I do know about this stuff. Do you *really* want your loved ones to know what it's like to have you not know them? Do you *really* want them to worry about you every minute of every day because you can't get back from the mailbox at the end of your own driveway without getting lost? Taking care of someone with a head injury is a very bad thing. Wear a helmet!

Horses make you humble. It's one of the things I enjoy about hanging out with horses. Some lessons though are a little harder than others. I've been riding almost exclusively bareback for the past 9 or 10 months. It's done wonders for my comfort level and it's done wonders for my seat. I'll use a pad if I plan on being out for more than an hour or so because I have a bony butt and well, I wouldn't want my bony butt on my back without a pad for a couple of hours.

So there we were having a great time. It was hot. And dry. A little breezy. My favorite kind of day. Fourth of July coming and I'm on vacation! Out riding Sweety bareback. Yay!
It was our first lap, just warming up, I was being a slob and I'm thinking well aren't we so cool. I really should have known better. Hardly a minute later I'm lying in a heap in the dust and Sweety's off eating grass. I hate it when that happens.

I probably could have stayed with her if I'd have thought to grab for her mane. But I made a grab for the reins and I've worked too hard on soft hands. Soon as I realized I was grabbing for the reins to hang on I let go. I'm not the fastest thinker sometimes. I could have hung on to her mane or even her neck - wouldn't be the first time - but things like this happen fast.

Well I gathered her up and climbed back on board and we went on to have a perfectly lovely ride. No real harm done. But I am getting too old to be falling off my horse.

But I confess yes, my butt's a little sore.

A nice vacation breakfast helped take some of the sting out. I just *love* Laughing Cow Creamy Swiss Cheese in my omelette. The MOËT speaks for itself. The cup is filled with Ethiopian Yirgacheffe. Really good coffee. One of my most favorite.



And remember - always wear a helmet when you ride your horse! These guys even hand out free helmets.

Go hang out with your horse

This was our first trip off the property under saddle:

L was 6 years old. We'd been showing for years and she'd been off the property on countless occasions. But not under saddle. I'm not a professional horse trainer. When L came home she was halter broke and that's it. I trained L under the supervision of a skilled trainer. I'm sure she thinks she trained me but that's another story.
Canadian Horses are wonderful family animals. They're very smart, they're sensible, they're good natured. I've also heard they're not for beginners. That may be so. Some say L is smarter than I am and it's hard to argue otherwise. She does know people stuff better than I know horse stuff.
I'm not a beginner - but I'm not an expert either.
L is a bold, dominant mare. Training was...challenging. For a long time I thought I'd *never* get it. It was frustrating. It was scary. Occasionally satisfying. Always it was educational.

This trip was a good experience. It was a busy show with one of L's herd mates (M - I haven't introduced M yet) showing under saddle. The morning was H/J over fences and later in the day was English and Western Pleasure and the WTC classes. L and I were there just to school.
It was late July. It was hot. Competition was outside, warmup was in the indoor arena. It was pandemonium! L and I walked up to the door, peeked in and I said oh crap, no no, we're not going in there, no sir, I'm gonna be killed in there.

We took a couple of circles in the parking lot, peeked in the door again, took a couple more circles, peeked in the door again, sucked it up, and followed our herd mate M in.

L was, of course awesome. Oh, she was a handful. No question about that.

This is a very poor quality picture but I think it caught the moment. You can see just a little of the sheer chaos going on in the background. It was really scary:

L is fully engaged. She's paying attention. Oh, she's making me work at it! But she's being real good. She had her big trot going for a good 20 minutes before she was ready to relax and work. We both came out of there dripping. I was tired. She wasn't.

We spent the rest of the day wandering the property, watching people, watching horses, dismounting, mounting, dismounting, etc.

And nobody got hurt!

It was a huge milestone for both of us.

And I remember learning something I found hugely significant that day too. There was a girl on some kind of chestnut horse. Thoroughbred or maybe a thoroughbred cross. They poked around the property most of the day, watched horses, visited people, got stuff from the canteen truck, all while mounted bareback with just a halter and the two of them just had some kind of "most natural thing in the world" going on. I commented to my companion, J, about it. Now J has been handling horses her entire life, she was riding before she could walk, and she just matter of factly says oh that's one of the summer camp kids. They're on those horses all day long.

Hmmm.

I spent a lot of time on L the rest of that summer. Not just lessons and schooling time but just poking around doing nothing. We'd watch lessons. Run down to the street. Walk around the street. Lap the hay field. Walk in the woods. Run in the woods. Eat some grass. And go do it all again. My point being rather than just doing our lessons and schooling in the ring, we started just hanging around doing "stuff". Every chance we had. For hours and hours.

The lesson of course is if you want being with your horse to be a natural comfortable thing, for both of you, well, just go be with your horse. A lot.