Click!

Just came in from having a great session with Sly. This was #3 and today it all clicked. She figured out that I wanted her to keep going in a circle and resisted the urge to stop and fly backward just because she was on the "open" ends (some of you may recall that our home arena is divided by a fence in the middle, so it's like having a round pen on two sides of your longeing circle and open on the other two sides - otherwise known as "temptation" for green horses who think they might want to go somewhere other than a nice round circle!) She walked on the longe today without trying to break into a jog. She jogged when asked, without any of the jumpiness and snorting that had characterized longeing sessions #1 and #2. In fact, she didn't even snort once.

I did have another horse tied in the arena today. I noticed that Sly gets very distracted and upset when she's alone, and the other filly needed a tying lesson anyway, so we brought her in. Sly was definitely more able to focus on work with another horse in sight. We have about a half-dozen Thoroughbred mares who could use patience lessons, so we'll just call this "killing two birds with one stone." Yes, horses need to learn to work alone, but they also need to learn to work with other horses around so I don't really care which they learn first and, actually, having to ignore a Thoroughbred filly having a hissy fit and pulling back is probably a good learning experience. (She is a smart filly. She only did it once; when it did not work, she abandoned the idea.)

We also worked on "ho." This mare knows to stop when you give a sharp pull on the longe but there's no voice command associated with that. If you don't pull, you could ho-ho-ho like Santa Claus and get no response. I want a verbal "ho" installed on a horse. I want a "ho" that means, you slide stop and plant your feet no matter what - even if the headstall broke, even if you are really scared, even if you are pretty sure you do want to jump off that cliff in front of you. I want emergency brakes that work pretty darn reliably, so I am working on installing them now!

This reminds me of a funny story. The first time I ever went to a real hunter horseshow, after growing up at a polo barn, I thought the horses were just terribly mannered and I couldn't understand why they were winning. The reason? They all took so long to stop! I had grown up on horses who slide-stopped on "ho" or when you drove your seat into the saddle and squeezed with your thighs. I couldn't imagine why it would take a horse several steps to stop cantering (or to start cantering, for that matter). I had never ridden a horse who lugged on the bit and slowly ground to a halt. They all looked barely green-broke to me. Ha ha, culture shock!

Who else had a major "WTF" experience the first time they saw a riding style very different from what they were raised with? What looked weird to you (or still looks weird?)

Back in the saddle!

I just got off a horse! For you diehard blog readers, this is kind of surprising since I haven't gotten on a horse since the ride on Lucy that I detailed in November. Between bad roads and bad schedules (I won't get on green horses unless someone else is at the barn), I have done a whole lot of mucking and bucket-cleaning and zero riding.

Today we finally got everybody's schedule together thanks to the holiday, so I was able to start working with Sly. Sly (reg. name One Sly Private Eye) is a buckskin tobiano APHA mare who was rescued as a weanling from a PMU farm in Canada. Her training history is a crazy story, but not that unusual. She was sent out for 90 days of training as a three year old. She returned, and someone got on her who admittedly did not do the smartest thing and gave her a boot in the ribs.



Sly, somewhat understandably, took off bucking. Her owner called the trainer, who said, and I quote "well, I never rode her with a saddle."

*sigh*

Since that time, Sly's mom has ridden her with a saddle at a walk and jog in the round pen without incident. That was a few months ago and now, again thanks to the weather which necessitated 30 horses living in the indoor arena here til the flood went down, she has been vegetating and eating for a few more months. She's my new project, starting today. I started off with some basics, just longeing both directions. She started off perfectly and then decided to see if she could stop and back up instead. Of course, the only way to correct this is to get yourself behind the point of their shoulder again and urge them forward, so she would start backing and I would scoot to where I could get her forward again. A few verbal corrections and finally I gave her the butt-smack she was asking for. Amazingly, she instantly remembered how to longe nicely without stopping up and backing. Uh-huh. We had a good laugh about that. She has a good "ho" although not quite AS fast a response as I like. We will be working on that.

She knows how to back and she moves away from pressure on both sides, faster on the right side. I tested that out some before getting on her, mindful of the kicking --> bucking incident, but she's not that sensitive. The guy must have really booted her a good one. I got on her today and just got led around and then longed at the walk. I like doing that as we can reinforce the going-forward thing on both ends - she tried to stop and back a few times and both got leg and encouragement from the ground. Worked great. What I was particularly excited about is that we reversed and she did a nice little half-turn - stepped right around, crossing over. Some of them would happily let you drag them on a half-circle to reverse like you're turning a riding mower. I like it when the lateral moves come so naturally.
Last night I went to visit Bessie, the ex-broodmare I worked with this summer. She has now had a few weeks of additional training and is solid at the walk and trot. Monica says cantering is not exactly her idea of fun yet - she said she will lope a few strides and then balk. However, apparently she can't buck to save her life because she is too big and unwieldy (I believe that - this is a moose of a halter bred mare, she wears a 54 huntseat girth!) so it is more funny than anything else when she tries. She is doing very well and is on track for her owner, Sydney, to show in 4-H this year. Here she is in her stall, which is covered with Christmas decorations!

I also saw another happy ending rescue at Bessie's barn. Seven in the Tropics came off the track this year with a blown suspensory. It looks great now, and he is on track for an eventing career. He was bored to death on stall rest, so his teenage owner started teaching him tricks. When you say "show us your ID," he flips his lip to reveal his racing tattoo. How cute is that?

There's also a particularly cool Thoroughbred there looking for a home. He is over 17 hands, 10 years old, bay, personable and sound. I am told he is a nice boy to ride. I might go try him out myself (not for me, but just so I can tell you all what he's like). He's looking for a good home "make an offer" so if you are around Seattle and looking for a bargain on a new dressage or low-level event prospect, contact me and come check him out.

The VLC is back to work and he also started a very important lesson this week - clipper training! This had been delayed as the clippers had fallen into one of those black holes in the barn. The harder we looked, the more we couldn't find them until finally they chose to reappear :-) He was fine as soon as he realized clipping was going to happen in conjunction with cookie feeding. He is extremely food motivated. He would walk across a bridge with flames at both sides if you had an alfalfa flake on the other side.

So that's my update. Have the rest of you been riding over the holidays, or have you let it slide?

Merry Christmas!

Well, I don't have much to talk about. With the recent blizzards, the VLC's progress has come to a screeching halt because I can't get out to the barn he's at. I haven't made it further than the grocery store in over a week.

For those of you in the Midwest or East coast who think I am a wussy, let me explain what happens when it snows in the PNW:

Nothing.

Yes, that's right. Because it's such an infrequent occurrence, we are not set up for it and so nothing gets plowed, salted or sanded. It just sits there on the road. Everything closes up and you are expected to simply stay home. So, despite three decades mostly in Wisconsin and good winter driving skills, this time I am stuck. I am assured that the VLC is fine and that a friend actually made him a nice hot mash with peppermints in it the other day. He goes out in the indoor with the geldings and they play tarp tug-o-war. Well, the other gelding is trying to teach it to him. He hasn't quite caught on yet, and simply drops it and lets the other guy have it. He's not the most competitive, ha ha.

*shrug* What can you do? Can't fight Mother Nature! The VLC blog will return when the weather cooperates and he can get his furry oversized butt back to work. For those who missed this in the comments, he's been seen by the vet and put back to work - slow conditioning, backing up in hand and hill work if we can find a hill (nothing on the property, unfortunately). It was his stifle, as I thought, plus he was a little bit out in the hip so that got fixed. He also needs work on neck flexibility so he was prescribed carrot stretches. The VLC thinks the vet-chiropractor was like the best idea ever.

So that's it for now - Hope you and your horses are having a wonderful holiday season!

Cross your fingers...

I finally got the vet I wanted (the vet who is also a chiropractor) scheduled to see the VLC and hopefully figure out what is going on with his very mild left hind lameness. We discussed it on the phone and she thought he might be out in the back which honestly would not surprise me as he is a big goofy dork and does things like jump sideways on to his gelding friends and fall off, and he has been doing things like that as long as I have known him. So, please cross your fingers that we can resolve this and get his big furry butt off to training ASAP!

In the meantime, allow me to introduce my next project. Sly is a young buckskin and white APHA mare who had 30 days of training on her a year or two ago. I am assured she did not make any effort to kill anyone during that process and that she will welcome further training. :-) She is a very sweet and people-friendly mare, and we have always gotten along well, so I'm looking forward to working with her. Her bloodlines look like she ought to be interested in cows, so I am hoping that is true because I'd like to do a lot more of that stuff myself. I'm dying to have my own cutting horse but that is probably several years down the road, so in the meantime I'd be very happy indeed if I had something I could go team sorting on, and Sly might be it!

Happy Thanksgiving!

And here is your dose of cuteness...the VLC's son Bullwinkle. That's the barn owner where he lives with him, not his owner, but you can sure see how fast he's growing! He was the LAST colt of the season at his breeder's so this is not an early one...I will bet he's going to be bigger than his dad. I am so thankful he found a great home - look at that lovely fence. He is also out with another colt now for which I am equally thankful. They really do need buddies their own age!

So, I'm still working on the web site and still not riding but I can give updates on previous horses I've talked about here. The VLC is still a little off and doesn't mind it a bit. I have so far played nothing but phone tag with the vet that is also a chiro, but I really want her because, after all, why not call the vet who is also a chiro and kill two birds with one stone? Also, my friends think she's a goddess. So I'm still trying. He doesn't mind the layoff a bit. He is entertaining himself playing with his gelding friend and doing things like systematically pulling bags out of the trash and throwing them all over (I always forget he's THAT big and he can reach over fencing the other horses can't and cause mayhem). I haven't been able to blanket him as heavily as I probably should, because I'm always worried he'll get hot during the day when I'm not there, so he's only wearing a lightweight one and has haired up like a yak. Could be the next thing we'll be teaching when he is sound is bodyclipping!

For VLC fans who would like one just like him, but a gelding, I noticed Clyde is for sale. Clyde is a 17 hand gelding by the VLC's sire and he is reportedly the quiet, willing, trail safe gelding of your dreams. Registered AQHA, not sure if he's PHBA but he could be. The pictures show they are not exaggerating his size!

Lucy may be going out to a friend of mine who has a daughter who can ride anything - we're working on that. It has not worked out for me to do anything with her because, due to conflicting work schedules, no one is ever around to be a ground person for me and I'm just plain not getting on a horse who is squirrely to mount and dismount without a ground person. Friend's barn has ever-present trainer and lots of other people always around. We are still trying to ID Lucy and I have submitted a search to the Thoroughbred Protective Racing Bureau which is known to get results where the Jockey Club can't.

Bessie had her VLC filly, Libby, weaned off of her and neither one cared. Bessie then headed out for training with Monica Stephens who will be finishing her under saddle. Apparently the month I put in messing around with her with wild filly at side was completely adequate for Bessie to think she was broke, if not going to work too hard at it - her new kid has been riding her all around the home property, sometimes double with friends. Yes, with helmets. Bessie loves, loves, loves the attention. My friend who feeds in the morning at Monica's tells me that every morning, Bessie is flat out in the shavings in her box stall, clearly not believing her good fortune. She was born and raised on an Idaho ranch, came through the Yelm auction and then lived in a big broodmare herd. The whole stall/spoiled life is a completely new experience for her at age 10 and she is eating it up. They have also discovered she has the ability to pin an Uncle Jimmy's Hangin' Ball up against something no matter where they hang it, and eat the whole thing...Yes, Bessie is happy. I am not sure how happy she will be when training begins December 1st and she learns she is actually going to have to, like, canter with a rider and, you know, break a sweat but I guess we will find out!

By the way, I noticed Bessie's three year old daughter on DreamHorse...bad picture, but might be worth checking out if you're local and looking for a project! She sounds like she got Bessie's people-friendly disposition. This is the foal she was carrying at the auction, from the stallion in Idaho.

The Drama pony returned to her owners and is jumping with their adorable 5'0, 100 lb. friend Heather in the saddle. I will get pictures as soon as I can. She is so damn cute. They almost took her to a schooling show last week but decided she was not quite ready...but that is coming soon. I like the role I played here - it's the same as I did with Connor, another rescue pony who turned out great. Connor was broke out by Juliane of Cowgirl Spirit. I had him for a while and did more finishing and put a canter on him and leads. Then he got sold to an event trainer who finished him the rest of the way and now he lives in luxury at an "A" barn.

I realized we have a little theme here going on the updates and it is a good one to bring up...you know, you don't have to be the one who gets a horse get trained from start to finish to be successful. It's perfectly fine to do what you are able and then pass them along to someone else for a next step. I see people who are driving themselves crazy because they don't have the ability to take the next step, and why? Do what you can. If that means doing all of the groundwork, great. If that means putting the first 30-60 days on, great. If your niche is more finishing and fine tuning, that's great too. Horses need people who can do all of these things, and they're not going to be traumatized if they have a couple different trainers along the way. And with rescues, we all need to work together to ensure they get as trained as possible and on track to great homes in the future.

My Big Gold Yearling is ecstatic - I found new boarding for him where he is out with a weanling Thoroughbred colt. They run. And run. And run some more. I had no one his own age to turn him out with and he would just stand in a corner of the paddock and sulk. This is so much healthier for him. He is fat and filled out now and looks so good - the yearling ribby stage had me at my wit's end despite the vet telling me he has fine - he just looked so lousy, you know? Fortunately it really was a growth stage and he looks good now. I may actually get a picture of him I'm not horrified by sometime next year. :-) The Crabby Old Bat moved to the same place, as it could offer the mud-free pasture she needs to stay as sound as possible on her creaky old legs, and my other two old mares are going this weekend. Clover of course stays home as she needs her hot mush twice daily, but at 35 she also is fine being turned out in a small paddock, while the rest of them aren't. Crabby Old Bat is very happy. She walked through the hot tape the second day and moved in with the barn owner's four geldings. I thought that was going to be a disaster but she merely established herself as the Queen of the Pasture and now has a 17 hand gorgeous Seattle Slew bred gelding who is in love with her. Go figure. Love is blind.

Casper returned to Cowgirl Spirit and they have taken her out trail riding and she did fabulously. Acted like it was all old hat to her. Didn't spook at a thing! That's pretty much what I expected since nothing ever bothered her here. She did figure out that she could revert to her stubborn/sticky behavior with some riders so Juliane is working on training that out of her. She is, of course, still available for adoption and does come with her APHA papers so she is eligible for all of APHA's riding and showing programs.

I may have a new project but it'll just be an old mare fattening-up project. I'll fill you all in if I get her! Hopefully we can make it a happy Thanksgiving for her and have her in a safe place eating mush before the weekend is over. She is a thirty year old Thoroughbred mare and the cutest thing ever...

Slow going...

Not much to write about because not much is happening! I'm trying to get in touch with a highly-recommended chiropractor to give the VLC an adjustment and see if we can get him back to 100%. I'm sure if I trotted him past 100 people, 99 would ask me WTF I was talking about, but one of you would see what I'm seeing...slightly uneven on the left hind. I've been keeping him in more and only turning out in the arena since we've had a monsoon here and everything outside is slop. He doesn't seem to care. He's certainly an easy horse - he's happy living outside, he's happy living in a stall. Nothing in the world stresses this horse. He'll deal well with the horseshow life.

We're taking it very slow with Lucy. She's still very nervous about ground work so the current goal is longeing at the walk without thinking we're going to eat her. She remains unconvinced, but I think it will just take time. She's so much better on the ground than she used to be that I know she'll come around with time. We are still trying to ID her - I sent off pics and info to the Thoroughbred Protective Association for the really high-tech search this week so I'll let you know if we get a hit!

The Drama pony is doing very well. As I think I mentioned, we found an even smaller rider for her - and one who has more recent jumping experience - so she is learning to jump and getting close to being ready for her first schooling show. I can't wait to post those pictures so you can all see - she is just adorable over fences, but they have to be high enough or she is lazy. It's just so easy for her.

All right, hopefully someone else has something more exciting to report! I may have a new project to talk about soon, but I'll bet some of you have a new project already. Fill us in!

Dealing with new mom syndrome in horses...

I'm writing this for someone I know reads the blog but I won't ID them. I think it's something a lot of us went through with our first horse and I'm hoping someone can offer some helpful advice.

By the time I got my first horse, I'd been in lessons for nine years and was already working polo ponies. When you polo groom, you are 100% responsible for making sure that 6 horses stay the right weight, fit, and completely sound. You get used to inspecting legs daily and memorizing what they look like. You know right away if a horse isn't quite right or something feels or looks different. It's great experience and I'd recommend it highly to any of you younger riders who want to really learn horses inside out and learn to ride a variety of temperaments consistently well. So, growing up in that, I didn't really have the "new mom syndrome" that so many people go through upon purchasing their first horse.

You know what I mean. If you're a boarding stable owner, you've likely encountered this person. They may get upset if their horse has a little hay in his water bucket, for example. I dump buckets once a day, when I clean stalls, and I assume other good barns do likewise. That said, horses like to throw their hay in their bucket and some actually wash their hay. The crystal clear perfection accomplished at cleaning time usually only lasts 5 minutes once the horse goes back into the stall.

This kind of owner will just about have heart failure if their horse comes in from shared turnout with a bite mark, and your reassurances that this is just what horses do won't assuage their level of upset. This owner worries nonstop about their horse and is often calling upon you to look at it and see if you think it looks thin or is acting sick. Now, while we all far prefer this owner to the owner who doesn't notice if their horse is thin or acting sick, after a while we end up rolling our eyes when the person heads our way. Their horse is fine, why can't they see it?

Like I say, I never really went through this. I've always had horses, I've usually had multiple horses. If they get a cut, they get it washed off and treated. I don't worry that they're going to die unless they're colicking or something that I know is truly life-threatening. I can't really put myself in the shoes of an adult who didn't grow up in the barn and is experiencing a constant and continual fear that she is not taking good enough care of her horse, when in reality it's obvious to everybody but her that she is taking exceptional care of her horse, with the exception that her worrying has resulted in his having to change barns a lot. It sounds to me exactly how (I hear!) people are with their first baby...where they are just convinced they are doing it wrong and will somehow kill it. If you can relate to this syndrome, I'd really appreciate your posting your story or your helpful advice.