Canadian Horse Status

L is a purebred Canadian Horse.

Snow bath! 29 January.
The (American) Livestock Conservancy has (again) classified the Canadian Horse as Critically Endangered. I looked at the data. Maybe...oh, 7 years or so ago there were more than 6,000 Canadian Horses and the breed registry data showed encouraging breeding data, with over 400 horses born in both 2007 and 2008.

Economic downturn always hurts the horse industry. For many of us equestrian pursuits are luxurious discretionary pastimes. Canadian Horses have been endangered before and their numbers were on a healthy rebound the early half of the past 20 years. Seven and eight years ago one would expect to see over 400 Canadian Horses born each year.

I looked at the numbers and ...well, I guess I just haven't paid much attention lately. I was shocked to learn the population has dropped to less than 2000 animals and the last year or record, 2013, there were only 170 newly registered Canadian Horses. Such sad news. These are perfectly delightful animals.

L is everything a Canadian Horse should be. Her farrier says "those are what feet are supposed to be like". Her dentist says "those are what teeth are supposed to be like". I put a blanket on her once. It was below 0. She overheated. She's big. She's strong. She has a lot of presence. She's a Little Iron Horse type. Luxurious is a word that comes to mind.

Canadian Horses are highly prized for their temperaments. L is very smart. She's also very ...sensible. Everything about her is reassuring to a rider. Oh, it wasn't always that way. I'm the only rider she's every carried. I trained her (under the supervision of my trainer) and, oh, there were times my hands shook so bad I could barely buckle her bridle. Riding her was that scary. She didn't mean any harm...just a young horse. Mare. Doing young horse things. She'd puff up like a cat and throw a tantrum. When she stomped both of her front feet you knew to hang on.

After becoming more comfortable and starting some trail work outside of the ring I'd gone to mount up near the barn. I climb on board and, *just* as I swing my leg over her back, the heel of my right foot over the cantle, dead middle of her back, she *leaps* into a dead run. I'm hanging on for dear life. Yelling "HO! HO! HO!" while she ran the length of the barn. As fast as she could. While someone in the barn yelled back "Merry Christmas!". Very funny. Actually it was. She stopped, I hoisted my sorry butt into the saddle. And she never did that again. Young horse stuff.

Whatever issues we'd had, we always remained engaged. There was always "conversation". We had that going for us and *that* is 100% Canadian Horse!

If horses are your thing, get to know a Canadian Horse sometime.

Back to School

Last Sunday was a beautiful day. Pretty much a perfect 10. We've had several this week.

L and I enjoyed a very nice bareback ride. I killed more deer flies than I could count. They land behind L's ears and she has this "smack that bug will ya" gesture where she lifts her head up and shows me the fly. I'm expected to smack it. And she gets really insistent if I'm a little slow on the uptake. I find it's pretty funny.

While we had a most enjoyable time I was left with the feeling L was a little bored with our lazy trail ride. So when I got back to the barn I brought us in to the ring to do some schooling exercises. I really don't remember the last time we went in the ring. It has be a couple of years at least. I didn't plan anything hard. After I got her to frame up we did a working walk along the rail with circles in the corners. First to the left, then to the right.

L was not the least bit resistant. She was fully engaged, focused and she concentrated on what I asked her to do. I was impressed. Of course I know this isn't unique. But Canadian Horses are especially well known for being smart and willing.

We did some serpentines and transitions. She got a little on the forehand doing concentric circles but she listened to light half halts. We ended with side passes left and right. We weren't in there more than 10 minutes. She worked very hard. Not physically mind you but she was tired. Always end on a positive note.

And she wasn't bored. We'll have to do that more often!

One Tough Horse

I swear she really enjoys messing with me sometimes.

12 October
L was a little..."up" Saturday. It was cold and wet. Felt almost like November. So I decided to free lunge her and help her get it out of her system. I let her charge around like a nutbag for a minute and then we got down to work. After 20 minutes or so she carried her head low. Her eyes were soft. She licked her lips. Classic submissive posture. I'll admit. I was fooled.

All I did was divert my eyes from her and...boom. I didn't even look away from her. Just shifted my eyes. She leaped and spun an outside turn and wheeeeeeeee hahahahaha charged off in the other direction flagging her tail. Oh <groan>. She used to do this a lot. She was playing. Of course I couldn't leave it here. We were at it for another 30 minutes. After putting her through all of her moves. I had her do all her gaits. I had her turn. Turn again. And again. Do some circles. Halt. Back. After staring at each other for 5 or 6 minutes she turned to face me. And took one step. That's as much of a "join up" as you'll get with L.

L knows not to leave her stall without an escort. I can leave her door wide open all afternoon while I do barn work and she'll stay in her stall. I can even leave the barn. Go unload hay or make a trip to the manure pile and when I come back she'll be standing in her stall doorway watching the door. So several weeks ago I make a trip to the manure pile. I come back into the barn to find her watching the door. As soon as I come in...she takes a step out of her door. One step. And she stands and looks at me. So then I charge half the length of the barn screaming and barking and flailing my arms. Quietly, without hardly a blink, she steps back into her stall. Just past the threshold mind you. No further than what she knows is necessary. Really. What kind of horse does that?!

I'm very lucky she's such a sweet gentle animal. She's 100% Canadian Horse!

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Ok. I might be overreacting here. One of our local orchards.

$15.95 for a pie?!
Wow. Just. Wow. They're getting $15.95 for pies and people are lined up to buy them. And $14.95 for apple crisp? I thought I was seeing things. I think anyone that would pay $15.95 for a pie should have their head examined.

The Ground Game

And dividends.

We've done some lungeing and a lot of leading this week.

It's important to do it right. Practice doing it wrong isn't very productive. The focus is on control and discipline. Controlling a horse is controlling the way the horse moves. When we (free) lunge - starting from a halt, I expect L to walk when, lined up with her shoulder, I turn to face forward and lift my inside index finger. Even from 30 feet away.

That's her signal to change gate. When I lift my inside index finger again, I expect her to trot. Again and I expect her to canter. I expect her to pay attention. She should be looking for my signals. That's the way the herd behaves. Every horse in the herd is constantly looking for signals from the alpha horse.

When I pause ever so slightly with my outside foot and turn my outside shoulder in, that's her signal to transition downward. It's such a subtle move you won't even see me do it. Transitions encourage her to pay attention.

When I turn my outside shoulder in and lift my outside hand I want her to turn. Inside turn please. She has to do an inside turn, facing me. I never ever accept her butt when we're working. When I drop my outside hand I want her to change direction. If I raise my inside hand as I drop my outside hand I want a full circle.

When I abruptly spin with my outside shoulder lined up with her shoulder I expect her to halt. It took me a long time to get good at this. We started on a lunge line and worked from there. Things don't always go smoothly and sometimes I have to get after her and be mindful of every opportunity.

It's not about being forceful or simply dominating. It's more about persuasion. I don't force myself on L. I persuade her to accept my position. What I'm looking for when we work like this is soft relaxed posture. Soft eyes. She's not in charge, she has no reason to be concerned about *anything*. She still makes me earn it. When everything's just perfect, and we're about to quit, she'll leap into the air, spin around and go charging around like a nut bag. She'll flag her tail and when she looks me square in the eye I know, far as she's concerned, we've barely started. We're going to be there for a while.

The real trick however, is to bark at her as soon as you see her think of doing that. Once she's moved, it's too late. Same thing under saddle, by the way. Once she's moved, it's too late. She has to think you know what she's thinking.

And then there's the dividends

Saturday morning L managed to unlatch her stall door. Her stall door has two latches, a toggle and a snap. She was out flirting at 4:30 am. My trainer was awakened by all the squeeing and wall kicking. Now, L has this cat like quality. She's really not very big. What she has is a lot of "presence". And...she can puff up like a cat. She appears to almost double in size before your eyes and she'll fill the barn. Her father did that. I've never seen anything like it. She's had people slackjawed. She's done it when we're riding and it's like *holy crap*.

So here she is, all puffed up, 4:30 am, it's hot, it's barely twilight, she's doing scratches with her favorite gelding, and, having "assumed the position", she's squeeing and stomping her feet. My trainer walked over to the gelding, L immediately moved away, my trainer took a spot by her shoulder and marched her back to her stall without having to say a word or lay a hand on her.

I was very proud of my L. When she's on her game she's a perfect pleasure to handle.

Good Advice

Now, as far as I'm concerned, L got a little lively and I failed to stay with her. That happens sometimes.

As far as my trainer is concerned, a grizzly could have charged us from the brush and L should have just carried us both off to safety. And the "situation" reflected some erosion of my position as L's leader. We don't always agree. But. She persuaded me to spend a couple of days re-asserting my position and focusing L's attention on her manners.

I tend to be lazy and L tends to mostly very very good. That makes it easy to get sloppy and it's something I try to be aware of.

Saturday we free lunged. Emphasizing control. It's not just chasing your horse around an arena. Even though that's what it might look like. As usual, L made me work at. Just a little. Even after all this time she makes you earn it. She was, of course, in the end, a rock star.

Sunday we did some showmanship and in hand work. L is quite expert with this stuff. Walking with L is a favorite thing. Everything is right with the world here and and I really need to make more time for this.

Lead the way!
She'll stand here until I take the lead rope back in hand...

Ground tie? Check!
Of course she gets her favorite thing out of the deal!

From time to time I've been asked by people - where do you start if you want a horse? I always have the same answer. Find a trainer you trust and have confidence in. Handling horses is a lifelong lesson and your trainer is your "go to" person for everything horse. I often refer to my trainer as "my Mr. Miyagi". *She* doesn't always like that but she appreciates the sentiment.

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I just *love* goats!

All training All the time

It often appears I'm enjoying a simple pony ride around the property with my L. But the fact is we're *always* training. I started doing this many years ago with my thoroughbred. We'd be out in the fields and I'd make imaginary obstacle courses around distinctive rocks and brush. We'd run those courses and I practiced making the decisions. I decided where he'd put his feet, when and how he'd bend, when he'd turn and when he'd halt.

I've taken it just a little further with L by making obstacle courses around the property. Here I call this one our Hill Climb trail. The reason is obvious:

And this is our Bridge Trail. Bridge Trail because there's a "bridge" in there. A pallet with plywood nailed on top.

This is a favorite. It's a continuing challenge for both of us! I call it the Bank Trail. It's hard to see but there's a very short steep bank in the brush. It's tight quarters and it's a little tricky with that tree in the way. We go up the bank but I can't let her hop up because she has to twist and make a tight turn at the top. And I have to duck under the low branches.

Coming out from here can be a challenge too!
We work our way through the brush. Make no mistake - this can be dicey. There's thorns all over the place out here!

Even along some old paddocks abandoned ages ago. The biggest challenge here is to have her focus and ignore all that yummy looking grass!

The idea is to find something to challenge us. L needs some mental challenge to stay engaged. She needs some physical challenge to use muscles she might not otherwise use. I need to stay in charge. To decide where we go and when we go there. For me to have her putting her feet where she'd rather not is all it takes for us to stay tuned up.

She's become so good at going through these obstacle courses last year I started putting her through them backwards! Try doing figure 8s around a pair of pine trees out in the brush backwards! It takes a lot of patience. It's such a crazy thing to do from her point of view it wasn't at all clear to her what I was asking. Now all I have to do is point her butt where I want her to go and she goes through these things backwards as freely and easily as she goes through them forwards. Have I mentioned lately Canadian Horses are known for being smart? Finding things to challenge her is a challenge!

Today I'll go put some scary things out there. I have a whole shed full of stuff. Pool noodles. Flags. Wind socks. Plastic ducks. Those spinny things on sticks. I have dozens of those. We pole bend through them on windy days.

We're always training. It doesn't always look that way.

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

Working Girl

I've said it hundreds of times now. I don't know what I did to deserve my L. Whatever it is it likely wasn't in this lifetime. Her "Work Ethic" is one of her virtues. Early on during training the way she'd "get down to business" was downright conspicuous. One day I realized...she was "working". She takes it so seriously it's very funny!

She had been stuck in the barn most of the week so I thought she'd be a little...oh, "up". Thinking I might be in for a "lively" ride I saddled up. Well. She was working before my butt even landed on the saddle.

Just doing her job

She did everything I asked, when I asked her to and she did it well. A positively stellar ride. Canadian Horses are very well known for their intelligence and their gentle nature. L is everything a Canadian Horse should be!

Anniversaries

We brought L home 9 years ago yesterday.

20 November 2003. Haven't even parked the trailer yet.
I have two anniversaries with L. She came home the day before Thanksgiving in 2003. That was very exciting! Of course bringing a new horse into the barn is always exciting and we brought two horses home from Canada that day. L and her little herdmate M.

And of course there's the day we picked each other out.

M and L. 26 October 2003
Early on L revealed her huge talent for rolling...

I otherwise had no idea what the future would hold for us. If I recall correctly it was 9 years ago tomorrow she broke her first cross ties! So I tied her off using lead rope. It was a short while later she broke her first snap.

There were *huge* challenges every single day. We were at the beginning. Both of us. L was halter broke and she'd lead but she didn't even know what an apple was when she got here. I'd brought up one baby previously. Between that and her dominant nature she was a *ton* of work. Even with the help of a skilled trainer I sometimes thought I'd *never* get it. I remember her one day pushing through my left leg doing circles under saddle. I remember it like it was yesterday. She'd taken me sideways what had to be about 50 yards at a canter with my trainer yelling "don't let her do that!" every step of the way. That was typical at the time. I was thinking "let her <beeping> do this? I am *not* 'letting' her do this!".

She still messes with me but she's a good horse. It's harmless and she knows where the line is. Mostly. The work was worth every minute and everyone should enjoy their horse like I enjoy my L.

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On the occasion of our Thanksgiving, my most favorite holiday, I have to say how hugely disappointed I am with this:

RIP Zip Lock plate
Remember Zip Lock plates? I had no idea the Zip Lock plate was discontinued! I think Zip Lock plates are awesome! I've had my Zip Lock plates for what must be close to 25 years and a couple of them are a little...um..worn? So I went looking for new Zip Lock plates and I guess they haven't made them in years. Such a bummer. They're so perfect for leftovers.

Really feels like Fall

Yesterday was the first day this season it really felt like Fall.

3 Nov 2012 - looks ...and feels ..like Fall!
The light was harsh, the shadows were sharp, the sky was filled with those steel grey clouds and you just couldn't shake off the cold. Oh...it's been cold but that's been mostly overnight. The days have been pleasant for the most part.

Got a itch!
We're more or less confined to the property for the time being. The woods next door have been POSTED. Crap. I noticed a few weeks ago the neighbor's been out putting up new Keep Out signs all along the tree line. He's put up hundreds of them. Clear into the next town. I don't know if he means that for us too. Next time I see him I'll have to ask.

I set up obstacles around the property last Spring. Nothing crazy. Just something to help keep us tuned up. It's enough to have L do something she doesn't want to do to make my point. She mastered the course in no time. So meanwhile, to put the challenge back in it, I started taking L through the obstacles backwards. She hasn't been at all thrilled about that! As the saying goes, it's all training, all the time, whether you realize it or not!

With the foliage disappearing I'll have to expand the course. We should get a little ring time in sometime soon too.

Confronting Anxiety

Fear and anxiety. Sometime or other it's part of every rider's experience.

Aw c'mon. This doesn't look so scary.
I've seen people beaten by their frightening experiences with horses. I find that sad but I try not to criticize and judge. Hanging out with horses can be a dangerous pastime. I've been stepped on. Run over. Bitten. Kicked. I've fallen off my horse more times than I can count. There's all that. And then there's the fear of "screwing it up". It's not for everybody.

I was using that pile of pallets there as an improvised mounting block. In the rain. Safety First, as we say around the barn. At least I had the good sense to kick aside the boards with the nails in them. No sooner had I swung my leg up and hopped, L...stepped aside. Leaving me in mid air with nothing between me and the ground but that pile of pallets. Into which I landed in a heap. I was *really* pissed. Making matters worse the autofocus on my Nikon D40 failed. I'm sure those would have been just about the best pictures ever.

I settled it at the time of course. I was on board and felt sure she wouldn't do that again. We went off and had a pleasant ride.

Well. No. I didn't settle it.

I found I felt some anxiety over the prospect of using that pile of pallets as my mounting block. It really did hurt like hell. I'm too old to be landing in a heap in a pile of pallets. Actually, I was dreading the thought of mounting from that pile of pallets.

On the one hand, I could just say using a wobbly pile of pallets as a mounting block is just plain stupid and dangerous and not do it again. But as a matter of principle, I should be able to set L up just about anywhere and expect her to quietly park it. On the trail I use worse things than piles of pallets for mounting blocks.

Remember too, I fall asleep on this horse. I won't have anxiety and fear be part of our experience. Everything is right with my world when I'm on my horse and I try my best to make it a good experience for her too.

We did some ground work exercises for 10 minutes or so just to get her to focus and to be sure she knew what I expected. Then I set her up at the pallets. I stepped on to the pallets and, at the last minute, decided landing with my seat was probably not a good idea. Hopping and landing with my hips along her back would be more stable if things didn't go as planned. Good Idea. Because no sooner had I hopped, she stepped aside. I was shocked!

I backed her up. I spun her around. We turned back and spun some more. She was all kinds of "Sir Yes Sir!" when I brought her back to the pallets. Where she did it. Again. But...well...not quite. The gesture didn't have that... "dominant I'm messing with you" quality.

She wasn't really messing with me. This whole unpleasant business had left her anxious and fearful as well. I felt pretty awful about not seeing that. And I wasn't going to fix this until I got her to stand still.

I turned the whole thing in to a ground tying exercise. I ground tied her at the pallets and just poked around. I walked some circles around her. I walked half the length of the barn. I went in the barn. Came back out. Hopped up and down beside her.

I stepped on the pallets. I stepped off the pallets. I did that again. And again. Until she barely noticed. I climbed on one end and hopped off the other and then back again. I stopped at her hips and hopped up and down. I stopped at her shoulder and hopped up and down. I rocked the pile back and forth. I leaned on her. I leaned on her barrel, I leaned on her back. I "slipped" along side her.

Then I hopped up on her back. And. She didn't move. She barely noticed. I hopped off. I hopped on. I hopped off. I hopped on, scooted around, planted my butt and gathered her reins. Mission Accomplished. Sometimes I "get it".

Sometimes little things can be huge.

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.

The disagreeable mare

Make no mistake. I adore my Sweety. But I swear sometimes she can be a real pill.

Who. Me?
It was a little cooler yesterday but it was humid. And L was apparently feeling a little frisky. She was acting a lot like a 4 year old. After we'd warmed up she started doing this move into a trot thing when I'd gather her reins a little. I was patient about it. But every time I had her halt she'd toss her head and crank her tail and it became clear she was going to be a stinker.

So I said fine. You want to run? We'll run. So we ran. And ran. And ran. She did her big scary extended road trot, ears up, happy as can be every stride. After about 3 miles we hit the fields and I had her walk a bit to orient herself and then...we ran some more. We did a mile and a half or so at a dead run. She worked up a good sweat but she was barely breathing hard. She might be fat but she sure is fit. So we went back and lapped the barn. My trainer watched us go by a couple of times. She didn't give me any equitation points but L was getting some much needed exercise. I lost track of our laps but L was still happily breezing along. I was breathing pretty hard by then. Me and my bright ideas. At least I'd had the sense to use a saddle.

By the time I ran out of steam she was at least willing to walk.

River of sweat
She got a shower and grazed some of the best grass on the property.

I had a Mayflower Golden Ale. Didn't even pause for a picture. I can't remember when a beer tasted better!

Colors of Spring

Spring may have been early but it sure changed its mind this week! It's been cold and dreary all week long. Last weekend was green! Rain earlier in the week followed by some sunshiny days made everything burst overnight.

29 April - Everywhere it's green.
I don't know when we'll ride in the woods again. There's a lot of damage in the woods from last year's storms. One can plainly see how treacherous it can be in there. It's just not worth one of us getting hurt over.

We've spent most of our trail time touring the fields. It's a challenge keeping L out of all that beautiful grass while we're working. Before things got out of hand I poked her with my spurs every time she started to drop her head with that sense of purpose that says "I'm going to snatch a mouthful of grass!". She caught on pretty quick and she's happier when she knows the rules. Really. Not to worry - she can behave while we're working. I read something the other day: You're either training your horse or you're untraining your horse. You're always doing one or the other. That's a fact. Besides. I make it worth her while!

I just love all the shades of green and yellow this time of year.

I'm taking a liking to Long Trail brews. Every one I've tried so far I've found to be excellent! Just the thing after a nice ride.

Tuning up

Of course Spring is shedding and tune up season. This started in a big way last Wednesday. The shedding thing.

Familiar sight. 31 March 2012
She's been shedding little handfuls here and there but last Wednesday every brush stroke started taking off a handful.

A couple of weeks ago it felt like May. Dry, sunny, breezy, in the 80s day after day. How nice was that! My heat was off, my windows were open, we were doing ground work in the ring after work and dinner salads were back on my menu.

Even did a few turns in the ring under saddle last weekend. Long time since we did ring work under saddle!

And we had one heck of a nice ride last Sunday before the more seasonable weather moved back in.

Cold and windy

Yesterday was cold. Not too bad really but the wind was just awful. And of course the footing was frozen hard and uneven. Eight or 10 inches of snow usually makes for good footing at least.

Desperate for something to do with L I bundled up and we went for a walk.

15 January 2012. Cold. Windy!
I think I had a better time than L did. She kept giving me dirty looks. We walked for 2 or 3 miles and of course she was a rock star. I've blogged about this walking thing before. You'd think the sense of partnership and teamwork would be boldest when we ride. But no, I find I feel a greater sense of our "working together" when we walk.

We haven't walked in a long time now. Being able to go out and just have a pleasant walk, without having done so in a while, in the cold and the wind, is a huge achievement.

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I spent most of that walk thinking how good a hot chocolate was going to be when I got home. Then, on the drive home, I changed my mind. I decided to try a Woodchuck hard cider. I've *never* had hard cider! Shocking I know.

Excellent stuff! Two thumbs up!
They didn't have a variety pack, so, for no real reason, I chose Amber style. I really enjoyed the Amber style hard cider and I'll definitely be trying other styles.

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.

Not again

Tying troubles redux.

Cross tie
She'll never outgrow this I guess. Someone did me a favor recently cleaning L's stall for me. They put her on hard cross ties rather than her sliding cross ties and I guess they didn't last a couple of minutes. Someone reached over a stall door to bite L's butt and "plink"..."plink"...bye bye cross ties. Both of them. Then I guess she just stood there quietly with the snaps hanging from her halter.

Those things are hard to break and she breaks them like it's nothing. The thing that worries me the most is one day having a loose end or broken buckle snap back into one of her eyes.

I always clean her stall with her in it rather than tie her. When the weather's too bad to put her out. I found it's a great training exercise actually. My trainer always told me controlling the feet is controlling the horse and I have to control her feet and her position to clean her stall. I maneuver her around. She makes ugly faces but she does exactly what I tell her and it's very funny sometimes.

And from time to time she'll give me "the look" which, unless I bark at her first, will be immediately followed by her abruptly and deliberately stepping right in my way. It's ridiculously transparent. It's not a simple careless move. If it gets that far I smack her butt good and she's just mortified.

When I first started doing this I noticed handling her was easier and controlling her position in her stall had everything to do with that.

Patience and

...determination. From the archives:

28 March 2004. She's gonna blow!
This Wednesday L and I will have been together for 8 years.

I think everyone should enjoy their horse like I enjoy L. She's a complete delight to hang out with and every trip is just about the best ride ever.

I have however, on a couple of occasions, said something about challenges in our "early days".

I wasn't a beginner when I brought L home. I wasn't an expert either. But I did have the supervision of a talented professional with 35 years experience. Thankfully.

L, being a smart, bold, dominant horse, was a tough nut starting from day one. For a very long time, years in fact, I thought I'd never get it. After months of ground work, showmanship and lungeing 5 days a week, she still thought I was an idiot.

Oh crap
I was determined to make things work. Day after day I just had at it. I tried to be observant and find what worked and what didn't.

I learned 2 things I feel are paramount in all aspects of horsemanship.

• Timing. Your horse lives in the moment. Work with your horse in the moment. You can't stop and think about whether your horse just did the right thing or the wrong thing. By the time you think about it the moment is gone - along with any opportunity there might have been with it. That was a huge problem for us for a long time. I had to think about what was going on. That was disastrous when we started under saddle. Nothing really bad happened but clearly I needed work.
  
  
• Subtlety. There's a little timing here too. L is a very smart horse. I found with her you better notice things. That is to say, if she tests you then you're already at a disadvantage. If you didn't notice her thinking about testing you she'll think you're a moron. If she thinks she's smarter than you she's going to take over.
  
  In contrast to that I know a horse that can get a little flighty sometimes. With her she'll look to you for reassurance. She needs a lot of reassurance. But it's really meaningful only when she looks for it. And all you have to do is notice she looked for it and make sure she knows you noticed. That makes everything right with her world.
  

Oh and I'm still not an expert.

Groundwork

The miracle of groundwork.

17 July
I admit it. I tend to be lazy by nature. And truth be told L and I haven't worked very hard on anything lately. But there was a time we worked our butts off building our basics. And when we had them down cold we went back over them again. And again. I wanted two things. I didn't want either one of us to have to think about our moves and I wanted it to be a huge surprise if we missed a mark.

And with a horse like L you *have* to get it right. As sweet as she can be she'll eat you for breakfast if you let her. There is no downside in having a solid foundation. The time you spend building your foundation is time with your horse. And that's really what it's all about isn't it?

So last Saturday I go out and do groundwork with L for about 15 minutes. I know when I've made my point. She glares at me like she thinks I have a lot of nerve. She's spot on every move but she doesn't like it. It's hilarious. She's a very funny horse and I've said this before, the funniest thing is she doesn't know she's funny. I insist on her being well behaved but I don't insist she like it. I make sure she has all the time she needs to be a horse so she can behave while she's with people.

Oh. And our last ride? She didn't even so much as turn a disagreeable ear in my direction.

I need to be more disciplined in my habits. Something else I try to work on all the time.