Milestones

I always think of milestones with L on Thanksgiving.

There are milestones. The "firsts" with your horse. Whether you're training a baby or just brought home an old "been there done that" trail horse. These are big things.

L's very first saddle ever - 14 February 2004

Backed, first time ever, 18 July 2004
Holy crap I've lost a lot of weight!

It's easy now, years later, to forget the countless hours of training it took to bring a young horse along. Tying, manners, lungeing, round penning, showmanship. L didn't even know what an apple was when I brought her home.

Long lining

Giving and Bending

Flexing
I kept good notes. Our very first bareback ride was 4 August 2005. I have something of a sentimental streak.

And I have lots of pictures.

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And then, sometimes, you have milestones of a different sort. Things that change your whole understanding of what you do and after which there's no turning back.

I remember the day after Thanksgiving, 2005 like it was yesterday. It was cold and damp and the fog was so thick you could barely see 40 feet. I saddled up L and we'd been leaving the ring for weeks so I felt she'd outgrown being lunged before every ride. So off we went into the fields. A very short time later a truck came by out in the street. It rumbled and rattled in the fog and L just melted down. She leaped and she spun and she was outta there. My very first thought was to bail and hand walk her back to the ring and lunge the beans out of her but she let go a couple of bucks and started another spin. I really didn't think I'd get to the ground safely and then I realized I wasn't going to stop this. And trying to stop it was just going get someone hurt. She *needed* to do this and my only choice was to get us both through this safely. So I pushed her. Hard. I put her in a circle to get a little bit of lightness in her front and after a couple of big circles I put her straight out in the field and I pushed her hard. If she wanted to act like a nutbag, fine, but we have to do it my way.

I knew she could do this and pay attention too. When we made the tree line I turned her around and we went back the way we came.

That completely defused the situation and we went on to enjoy one of the best rides ever.

From the archive

This picture reminds me of something we always had going for us.

May 2004
We had lots of issues in the early days. Mostly dominance issues and while I learned a lot, I've said it a hundred times, I thought I'd never get it. But look at the picture and look at her ear. We were *always* engaged. Never ever not once did L "disengage". And that was just about the only thing I had going for me for a long time.

Training with L made me think hard about the business of dominance. Most people think it's about being a bully, but it isn't, not at all. And it's clear I'm not faster than L and I'm not stronger than L. It finally dawned on me. L has to believe I'm smarter than she is. The concept really is that simple. But she's a very smart horse and convincing her I'm smarter than she is continues to be a challenge. Sometimes I think she just humors me. It's good that she's a good horse.

Not long after that picture was taken I recall one of our very first milestones. And no, it wasn't our first show.

June 2004. L's very first show.
Very funny story. I was free lungeing L with her herdmate M. She was messing with me. She'd give me the "look" and allow her hip to drift in my direction by just a couple of inches. I was encouraging them with a lunge line in my hand. Things would quickly deteriorate if I allowed this to continue. So. I decide the next time she does it I'm going to let the line pay out and I'm going to just touch her hip with the end of the line.

I'm clumsy sometimes and I don't always get things right. She made her move and I went to let the line out and.. I just let go of it. And here this rolled up 30 ft. lunge hit her square in the flank.

It was more timing than anything else. It provoked an immediate "oh crap" reaction from her. It was the very first time she realized maybe she hadn't ought to be messing with me!

Happy Birthday Sweety!

Today is L's birthday. She's 10 years old!

One beautiful horse
Smile when you do this.

Whatever motivates a horse person to hang out with horses I think fun needs to be a big part of it. We had a boarder at our barn who would smile so much when she was with her horse her face would hurt when she left for the day.

I've often said I think everyone should be as happy with their horse as I am with L. And it's one of the reasons I blog - because it wasn't always that way. I have so many stories to tell I hardly know where to begin.

Yesterday I started a stopwatch when I mounted up. We went off and we did this and we did that. After a time I checked my watch. It said "8 minutes" had elapsed. I'm thinking to myself "gee I'd swear we've been out longer than 8 minutes". We'd warmed up and we'd done some flexing and bending and we'd gone through the 3 gaits. I can feel L getting more fit with every trip now. We were just poking around and L was looking in the direction of the barn like she was thinking "we must be done by now". I furrowed my eyebrows and looked again and saw it was an hour and 11 minutes had passed. My eyes aren't so good anymore. Apparently I didn't see the hour when I'd looked the first time. See. I knew it was more than 8 minutes!

That struck me especially funny, because back when she was 4 or 5 years old, 10 minutes on L felt like 2 hours and I often thought I'd never get it. I'd climb on, we'd fight for 10 or 15 minutes and I'd be ready to collapse in a heap. She never got tired. I really think she thought it was fun. As often as not I'd wonder why it was I did this.

Obviously since then we've had our milestones and I've learned a lot. I spend most of my time trying to make it up to her and horses are very forgiving creatures. I'm not very good at it but somehow we've become good partners in this. She's one good horse.

You should smile a lot when you're with your horse.

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Have a healthy breakfast?

I don't normally eat breakfast. I started having breakfast on Sunday morning a couple of years ago. To make Sunday something special. Usually it's some eggs or pancakes but sometimes I go for something wholesome and healthy.

5 Grain Cereal from Old Wessex
This stuff is actually very good! It's packed with whole grain goodness. I added a little wheat germ and dried cranberries and I squeezed some honey on it. The flavor and texture is basically that of quick cooking oats but I thought it had a scent something like bird seed.

The package said to cook it for 6 minutes but mine was done in 3 minutes.

Next time I want to try some maple syrup on it instead of honey.

Natural aids

This was the very first time we did this:

September 2007
We do this now and then and I swear it's the most fun ever!

We're not just showing off. This exercise helps us bond and builds our confidence. I think when you do it right, as far as they're concerned, they're just "hanging out with the herd". And in her world "hanging out with the herd" is just the greatest thing.

This exercise helps me with my balance and helps me be less dependent on my hands. I work on that *all* the time. Is there a better way to learn to depend less on artificial aids?

Best Horse Ever
Working without artificial aids helps me think more about the whole business of "the aids". There's a story behind this picture here.

L has been messing with me lately. It's rather funny, but still. Even though she's only 15.1 hands I can't mount bareback from the ground. I need a mounting block.

I lead her out to the block and she'll march right over and stand there like a statue. I'll do this and I'll do that. I'll fix her reins and step up one step. Fine. I'll step up another step and...fine. As soon as I gather the reins and grab a handful of mane? She'll step away. She doesn't just step away. She steps away to just about an inch out of reach. And if anyone is watching she'll turn and give them a two eyed look. Like she's saying "you see that? I'm messing with him".

So my trainer says this has to stop and I have to fix it. We're lucky to have her because in reality I'm a slob. So we're going to do mounting block exercises and, as soon she hands me a whip I tell her. L is not going to mess with me. I know. She's not going to mess with me. Yes she will. No she won't. Yes she will. No she won't. Well go do it anyway.

And she didn't mess with me. We all laughed like a bunch of fools.

You know why she didn't mess with me? Why I knew she wouldn't mess with me? Because I was ready to be messed with and she knew it. She will not mess with me when she knows I'm ready to be messed with. It's that simple.

Which brings me to back to "being on the aids". I'm sure I've said this before. L will not mess with me when she's on the aids and I keep her on the aids. When she's light in my hands and she's flexing and supple and listening to my legs she's going to be right there every step and she'll be just as happy as she can be. And that's not just for the arena. That goes when we trail ride too. She's not even going to think about snatching up a mouthful of grass when she's on the aids.

It's challenging sometimes because I tend to be a little sloppy by nature.

Walkies

This is simply one of my most favorite things in the whole world:

L came home halter broke and that's it. How long do you think it took us to reliably just have a pleasant walk together?

Oh, she'd lead just fine and she could be handled safely in a day or two. Of course we did showmanship early on and typically after our ground work we'd go out and hand graze. No, her manners on our way out to hand graze weren't always perfect. Sometimes they were pretty awful. So I decided when we'd hand graze we'd quietly and pleasantly walk a quarter mile or so to just work on her manners. L is a most dominant animal. Well. I had no idea. No clue at all. A quarter mile walk with L was like going a round with a prize fighter. She'd fight with me every step of the way and fighting with L is not fun. She's bigger than I am, she's stronger than I am, and she can last longer than I can. And frankly, sometimes I think she likes it. Fighting. Walking with L was awful. It was exhausting.

I was determined to fix it.

She'd crowd me and I'd push her off. She'd try to get out in front of me and I'd snap her lead. She'd lean and pull and I'd have us halt. She'd crowd me and lean and pull and get out in front of me and I'd halt her and back her up. That would really piss her off. And she'd shake her head and stomp her feet. It's actually very funny and persists to this day - when there's an issue she acts like you're the one that doesn't get it. She'll spin and rear and stomp her feet (when she stomps both feet at the same time she's really pitching a fit) and she looks at you like she's thinking "*what* is your problem?!" and it's hard not to laugh out loud. You can't do that of course. Horses know laughter is a good thing. But this was every 2 or 3 strides for a quarter mile and it was tiresome.

This went on a couple of days a week for 2 or 3 months and we got *nowhere*. It was very frustrating. I used a flat halter. I used a chain. I used a rope halter. I used a dressage whip. I used a crop. I used a lunge line. She's a tough nut to crack. She really is.

Obviously I had to do something different. So. Contrary to my trainer's advice (*you* choose the speed, *always*), I decided I'd go ahead and move at her pace. I like my horse's ear right around my shoulder with their nostril just behind my wrist on a loose lead. L has a very forward attitude and for years her stride was best described as "stomp stomp stomp..." and it was hard to keep up with her. But I did that for a few weeks. I was hoping she'd get the message "this is where you're supposed to be all the time. At the end of 3 weeks or so I started to change the pace a little, just a few strides here and there. And I'd bark at her and give her lead a little snap when she didn't notice I'd changed the pace. If I could just get 2 strides from her at my pace without a fight I'd pat her and make happy voices and then we'd move on.

Slowly over time I'd change the pace for longer and longer stretches. Three strides. Four strides. I'd make her pay attention every step and when she got it without a fight I'd pat her and do happy voice. After a couple of months we started walking a half mile on our way out to graze and all together after 5 months or so we could go out and reliably have a perfectly pleasant walk together. L would maintain her perfect manners for whatever distance I chose for us.

I'm not a professional horse trainer. Hell I'm not an amateur horse trainer either. I'm just a guy with a nice horse. We trained really hard, 2 or 3 days a week, for 5 months, to just go out and take a nice walk. We got to know each other much better and of course that made a big impact on our training moving forward. It's all training really.

I further refined this as our "comfort zone". It's great exercise for me and "takin' a walk" is our quiet place. When things look like they might get out of hand we can (almost..) always "assume the position" and walk. She knows *exactly* what I expect and it's *not* too much to ask for.

It's become one of my most favorite things and I try to walk with L for at least a mile, sometimes 2 or 3, a couple of days a week. I still change up the pace just to keep her on her toes and if she doesn't notice? An exaggerated little gasp will get her attention. If she really isn't paying any attention at all I'll abruptly change direction, about face, and she'll come right around without taking up any slack in the lead. That's nice. We can go right down to a crawl without any drama but we can't really do a slow motion walk together. Smart as she is she doesn't quite get the "move feet slowly" part of a slow mo walk.

I miss our walking something awful in the wintertime and there are a couple of weeks during the summer when the bugs are *so* bad it just isn't pleasant for either of us.

Here, I'll want to remember this the middle of next winter. This was around 7:00 am today. Looks like it will be a real nice day.

Competition. It's about the training.

Gee - you'd think I knew what was I doing!

I'm not really a competitive person. Competing and showing just isn't my passion. I do think it's important for a horseman to know how to show his horse and I think a few trips around the show ring is part of a well trained horse's experience.
But showing L is fun. She likes it. She has presence and when she flips on the high beams she's positively stunning.

We're not competing this season and I'm surprised I miss it a little. It feels odd.

Showing and competing is about the training. Something to do with your horse. I remember Thanksgiving Day in 1986. I was driving to my parent's house for dinner. It was around 11:00 am, it was cold and snowing like a bastard. I drove by a stable and there, in the snow, was some guy riding his horse. And I think that was when I was first struck by the drive some people have to do this stuff. When I see people with their horses in competition I see the hours and hours of training behind it.

That takes real passion.

I have to admit though - the year L took a Grand Champion rosette was quite the thrill, it really was. I still don't think that was her best showing. Well maybe it was.
But there was one weekend, one year, she had the magic and she was spot on, she looked good and every move she made she was spot on. For whatever reason the judge just wasn't impressed and I think the best we did was pin 3rd. Judges are like that sometimes and some people find it harder to accept than others. But I was impressed. She had focus, she behaved beautifully, she hit all her marks and I found her to be "reassuring" and felt we had a real partnership coming together.

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.