You Can't Always Get What You Want...

But if you try sometimes, you just might find, you get what you need.

What did I want?  What did I need?

I WANTED to ride in a clinic yesterday on "Canter departs, lead changes, speed control, and fluid transitions" with Kerry Kuhn.  My barn was hosting the clinic and even though I hesitated to spend the fee, I know we could use some help in these (and oh so many more) areas.  Specifically I wanted more control over speed at the lope for the Western Pleasure.

I NEEDED to hear this honest horseman tell me we had many other things to work on if we want to get the loping right, and then give me some tools to get us on our way.  

Mr. Kuhn works under the "Practical Horsemanship" banner.  You can listen to his explanation in THIS VIDEO.

We spend most of the day working on ground work, the kind that helps enforce the handler as the fair and respectful leader and the horse as the relaxed, willing follower.  We've done some of this work before, but it's been a while.  I happily had the least-spooky and softest horse in the group, which is something I couldn't help being proud of after so many years of having the "crazy" one.

My demonstration of our too-fast lope failed miserably when my Bug loped off smoothly and calmly.  He did get amped up at one point, but for the most part he was really good and didn't take a wrong step all day.  I confused him quite a bit asking for some quick turnarounds that defied all the pivot training I've been working on, but he never got upset, just kept trying to do what I was asking.   I was pleasantly surprised at his endurance, both mentally and physically.

At the end of the day, Mr. Kuhn said this to me: "You have way too nice a horse here to still be working at the kindergarten level. He has so much more to offer you in here and you just need to ask him for it.  He'll give it to you."

What I then realized is the plateau we've been traveling along has opened into a wide valley of opportunity that I didn't even see coming. I had to try hard not to cry then.  I know it would have been okay if I did, but I am such an emotional cryer that if I would have let myself go I would have appeared to have lost my marbles, so I spared the group from the outburst. Ain't nobody got time for that.

I've been stagnant.  I don't ride enough and when I do ride I haven't been riding long enough and I don't have motivation or goals. I need to get back the confidence I lost. How did I lose it? I don't know but I suppose the back injury had a lot to do with it.  It's at a manageable level now, but when I fell of in October I realized how weak my balance had become and it spooked me.  PLUS Junior started stumbling more when he was out of work so that makes me worry about him taking us both down. Bad balance in horse and rider is not a good combo. AND my work schedule has not been helpful since January. Excuses, excuses. I know.

So now what?  Mr. Kuhn read my horse like a giant billboard and reminded me to "ride the horse I have." The bottom line is that I haven't been asking Junior to work hard enough.  I've been babying us both since the lay-off and it's got to stop if I want to reach my goals this year.  Philosophically speaking, I need to ask so much of him that a slow lope is the easiest thing I ask him to do.  THAT is his rest and his reward. Training wise, I need to keep him on his toes more. I need to make his mind work so hard that loping along the rail is like a nap to him.  Ride ride ride.  Lope lope lope.  Keep his feet moving and keep his brain thinking.   I know him so well, I just needed a reminder of what he's capable of.  It's going to be a lot of work, but I finally WANT to do the work.  I'm READY to do the work.   It's what we need.

First Outdoor ride of the season. 4/5/13

Musings on Video Horse Shows

You will probably recall the times I've entered this horse show before.  No?  Well check out THIS and then THIS and you'll be caught up.  :)  You can also find my entries on my YouTube channel.

Each time I do one of these shows I have the same epiphany about "living in the moment."  In other words, I know that our performance at actual shows isn't flawless, trust me, I've watched the footage more than a sportsball game shows instant replays. I guess I find some comfort in knowing that there are other horses in the arena and the judge might happen to be looking elsewhere when we have our inevitable bobbles.  Or at least, a judge has only the horses in the arena to look at and we might rank as the best of the worst so the bobbles are forgiven. Either way, I know what ribbon I got BEFORE I watch the video, and I've yet to be really surprised or overly disappointed by a placing.  I mean, I'd always like to win, but I haven't felt any placings have been unfair.  Even though I can't always watch the rest of the class, there's usually time to glance around and pick out the ones that are likely to beat me and the ones that hopefully will not.

But then there's these times when I "do" the class and get to watch the video and decide if THIS is what I wish to put forward as our "best work". I can watch video (below) and pick out LOTS of things we need to work on.  So I go all introspective and try to remember that this is a learning experience (Judge Moshier sends written feedback/scores to all entries) and that a judge's feedback, if nothing else, will be a validation of what I'm seeing as things we need to work on.

I've had just 3 lessons in Equitation so far, and one was devoted mostly to recording my show submission.  Specifically we're working on bringing my feet forward underneath me, keeping my shoulders up and back and keeping my hands in the proper place... you know EQUITATION, which I have apparently forgotten altogether.  There isn't much improvement showing in the video, but hopefully by May there will be some. BTW, our barn's IEA team has been KICKING IT this year so I know I've got a good teacher!

He's behind the vertical for most of it.  It's really hard for me to perceive that from the saddle, so hopefully the lessons will help me learn to "feel" it better with someone on the ground telling me when he needs to be urged forward and given more rein.   He has a problem with walking in a straight line. I have a problem sitting transitions.  I think part of this is because I've been so cautious about compressing my spine that I don't just SIT a transition, and part because sometimes he reads my mind.  You'll see on the 2nd direction the canter to trot transition... I had merely thought about it and he came down... so I just rolled with it.  He should really be better at reading my mind.  This is why I don't think we're ready for breed shows!

With all it's flaws: here is my submission for Class #16: Open Hunter Under Saddle:

Comment away!

Show #1 of 2011

**I have most of the patterns from the clinic posted now if you'd like to go back and look at them. It seems the new thing is for shows to sell the pattern booklets for the shows for $1. I like the idea. Good, easy fundraiser and I get to add them to my pattern binder. The ones from the clinic were postcard size which made them easy to stash in the waistband of my show pants or in the pocket of my jeans, but since I can't find one of them are a lot easier to lose. :(**

Sunday morning I headed to the barn to move all of my show stuff to the barn entrance so when B arrived with the trailer we could load up and go. Zip loaded like a champ, but the trailer (2 horse straight) is the smallest trailer I've ever put Junior in and he wasn't convinced it was a good idea. He got half-way in and shot backwards, dragging me along and wrenching my lower back quite badly. I had felt it coming on before the yank, probably due to the time I spent last week with a broom over my head de-cobwebbing the barn. It's pain I've felt before so I knew I could continue with the day but that it would make it a little tougher. I'm a bit stubborn and I've shown through the flu, torticollis, and what I think might have been fly-spray poisoning... you are actually not supposed to use barn spray on your bare, wet legs, after all, but what did I know? B ended up getting him in for me and once he was in and found his morning grain he was just fine. He bumped his head on the way out of the trailer, but not badly. For only his 2nd show/event being tied to a trailer I thought he was good. He whinnied a lot, and pawed a little, but didn't fuss too much.

I was, of course, nervous and nauseous as I always am on Show days. I try to relax and breathe and get through it as best I can. Memorizing four patterns at once is difficult when you're also listening to how fast the show is progressing and thinking of all thing the little details to get ready. Where is my number? Did I remember to bring the electrical tape for his tail extension? Should I pee now or wait? I think part of that anxiety is that we do the Showmanship classes and then only have a few classes between that and our first riding class, so right after SMS he's got to get tacked and I've got to make small adjustments like taking my number off my back (there are numbers on either side of my pad) and putting on my spurs. More mileage for ME would help.

B was a great Show-Mom and it was really helpful with everything. Because it's been nothing but rain here, we were trailered on grass but Junior made it into a muddy grassy mess and every time we took him from the trailer his feet were covered with dinner plates of grassy mud and B had the illustrious task of cleaning them off. Because the arena is indoors and kind of dark I didn't bother spray painting his white legs or adding hoof polish. I sometimes wonder if this does knock me down in presentation points, but he HATES the spray and it just seems like a lot of futile work. I get jealous of the kids with show-moms who do all that stuff for them while the kids socialize and memorize their patterns. And memorizing FOUR patterns in one day is rough for me.

But anyway, back to the actual show. I realized as I grabbed his bridle for our first class that I had lost a curb hook and it was no where to be found. CRAP. So I would not have the leverage the Clinician said I should use and technically my bit was not legal, but since it was an open show maybe it wouldn't matter.

Adult English Showmanship.

There were 4 in the class and I got 3rd. The 4th horse was DQ'd for totally messing up the pattern. I actually remembered the pattern. He was yelling the whole time. We need to work on some things. Thank you all for your suggestions after the Clinic post. The snap and cadence are my next steps, along with the more deliberate movements during quartering. The judge commented that I need to take at least two steps each time I move to the other side of the horse. Here I thought I was being efficient. WRONG.

Adult Hunter Under Saddle. I worked him down a bit in the warm up arena and since I had very little bit to work with I had to be a bit demanding with him. In the class, however, Junior was lovely. We were 5th out of 9 so we got our first pink ribbon! Now we have a complete set! Consistency is still a problem, as well as anticipating the walk-to-canter transition that always comes soon after the "reverse and continue walking."

Adult Equitation.

B was amazing and found a tiny curtain hook that I kludged into a curb hook so I had some leverage for the class. It was a difficult pattern calling for a lead change and we're really not good at those. I was so shocked that he made the change I forgot to come back down to the posting trot and therefore got 5th out of 5. Such a shame because he was doing the best pattern we'd ever done until I screwed it up. Poo.

Adult Western Showmanship.

He was much quieter by this time and set faster and stood better than he has before. Still need to work on cadence and snap. We got 3rd out of 4 and after watching the video I'm not sure why we didn't get 2nd, but oh well. I just wish I knew what the difference was. That's why the clinic on Saturday was so nice when she gave all of the reasons for placings. During inspection the judge asked me if I knew what I did wrong in the Equitation and I told him I realized it too late to fix it.

Adult Horsemanship.

The lope to extended trot transition wasn't very pretty but the rest was good (for us). I think he thought I missed the 90 at the end because I made eye contact and nodded and THEN turned away but he'd already begun walking away and wasn't watching me. It's those little things that can really screw you.

I got lots of compliments on my outfit, including from the guy who won our western showmanship class and also several comments on how good Junior looked. I also got a few "that's a gorgeous horse" comments and I gave my standard answer: "Thanks! He thinks so, too."

I opted not to do the Pleasure classes, but probably should have since he was being so good. They're just sooo late in the day and I was worn out and hurting. B and Zip got 3rd and 2nd out of 5 in their reining classes and I got a chance to visit with my friends from the old barn. It was nice to see them all. We left after the reining classes and Junior still didn't want to get on the trailer but B got him on safely. We got back to the barn at 7:30 and Junior unloaded easily. Max's awesome mom had his stall all clean for me so I only had to toss my stuff in the car/barn and be done.

Overall I'm pleased with his performance. I can see improvements in posture and obedience. We need to continue to refine in consistency, cadence and carriage. We need to work on keeping weight on the hind end so that stops are smoother and have better self-carriage. A lot of that is strength related. He's working much closer at shows to how he works at home and that's very helpful. I no longer worry that he's going to be crazy or disobedient and can concentrate on keeping him working correctly. He did have a moment before Horsemanship where he didn't want to go into the warm up arena but it was a half-hearted refusal I was able to adjust easily. As the Clinician said, he's still at a place where I need to keep riding him to keep him working correctly, but that's an improvement over not working correctly at all. It'll come with time.

My back is in pretty rough shape and yesterday was a long day with a candidate for a position we're hiring at school that ended with breakfast this morning. All of my stuff needs to be sorted and readied for the next show but until I can bend over without shooting pain it'll have to wait.

Here's footage of my patterns and some of the rail work in my classes.

Show-N-Tell Clinic!

Overall the show clinic was a good day! I didn't sleep very soundly and I was awake and staring at the clock at 5:15am, half an hour before my alarm was set to buzz. I was at the barn in plenty of time to unload and help hay the horses and I was pleasantly awake. It seems the getting up earlier and earlier this week was a good choice. Let's hope it's as successful tomorrow when we go to the real show!

The misty rain kept us inside most of the day but we did Trail outside since the arena is larger. My saddle was momentarily rained on which made me weep a little in my soul, but it looks fine. Fingers crossed that tomorrow stays the partly cloudy and 70 degrees they're predicting at the moment!

My first class was Showmanship. I wore the new outfit to test it out.


I have to tell you how brilliant I think I am: I bought magnetic number "pins" this year instead of safety pins to put a little polish on my presentation. Because my jacket zips up the back and is rather fitted, and I don't have a show mom to stick her arm up my shirt to attach the number, I devised a brilliant method: I stitched little pockets into the back of the shirt that hold the back side of the magnets. All my helper/random passerby needs to do is pick up the top magnets, place the number and put the magnets back. Plus there are holes in the number where the magnets are so it is foolproof. I could probably do it myself in a pinch. The for Horsemanship when I have the numbers on my pad I just leave the "pins" off. WIN.



But back to the actual class.

He did the best showmanship pattern he's ever done. You can see from the video that we've made some improvements since last year at this time, even though we've been working without a trainer. It might just be the outfit but it looks my posture has improved. I still need to get my left elbow in and get some more speed into his back and the turns. The judge/clinician made it sound like I would have won instead of coming in 2nd.... had I not left out the trot off after the 90 degree turn at the end. I walked off instead. Oooops. She was complimentary overall but said we need some snap. She mentioned at her last clinic I saw that she used to practice showmanship with a metronome. I plan to try that.


Our next class was English Pleasure. He was actually really good for this class, too. He was heavy in my hands but he moved better than he ever has in the showring. I was surprised that she pinned me first of the three. She did suggest that for Hunter Under Saddle I go ahead and put the chain back on my Myler D snaffle. So I had Max's Mom go grab it before my Equitation class. I've been working without it since last fall but I figured I'd need it back in a show atmosphere. I was right, but it was worth a try.

Equitation was not pretty. Thankfully there's no video of that. We got 3rd of 3. The biggest issues were inconsistent circles and major fidgeting at the start and end. Also inconsistency in his trot because he wasn't sure what I wanted him to do. I still can't find the pattern sheet for this one, but I'll post it when I find it.

During the lunch break I put him away in his stall but he did not pee. I have learned that he will NOT pee with tack on and he will not pee if I'm watching him. The shows he's peed between English and Western have been the best behaved. I had no choice but to tack him up and suck it up and ride his cranky butt. He was not good in the warm up.

I was floored that she put me first in Western Pleasure and was highly complimentary! When the class was done I thought I was in the bottom, but certainly not after the two kids on filthy horses whose parents dropped them off with their crazy horses and no helmets. I don't even want to talk about that. Instead she complimented his movement and consistency including his good lope which I thought was far too fast but she really liked his carriage. Neat!

Horsemanship was an absolute hot mess.

Also glad that was not recorded as evidence. It started with a lope off of a halt which is difficult. Instead of halting after the lope he spun halfway around so my 180 became 270. Ooops. So we were in the middle for that one.

We also did the Trail class.

I'm pretty sure I won't be showing Trail any time soon. We got 4th out of 6 and I think that was probably generous. We did a terrible job jogging a circle inside a box, over poles, and then backing through a chute. The rest was perfect.

I will get images of the patterns and post them eventually so you can see. I'm not sure where my pattern cards ended up.

And now I'm tired and need to stop thinking and rest up for tomorrow.

Timing or "Round Pen 101"

1. Everything happens for a reason.
2. Moderation in all things...including moderation.
3. If it's not fun anymore you should stop doing it.

Those three phrases have become my mantras for various situations in life. I use them to remind myself to accept things as they are, to be careful and yet live a little, and to really asses my goals and make sure I'm doing what genuinely makes me happy. Lately in my equine journey they have all three of these phrases have come to the surface. A few posts ago I mentioned my tour of "What to do With a Western Pleasure Reject". Sunday was our third stop on that tour: Round Pen Communication.

Now, I must first say that I get a sour taste in my mouth when I say "Natural Horsemanship." I DO STRONGLY believe that there is no ONE RIGHT WAY to do anything, be it horse training, washing windows, or skinning a cat. I am a strong believer in the liberal arts education. To me, in the equine world this translates to exactly what I've been doing as of late, and one of the biggest reasons I was excited about this barn we're boarding at. Where else do you get to do on-site trail riding, obstacle training, dressage, and equine behavior training?!?! That being said, I've never really put too much stock in the roundpen freaks like the Parellis. I think that world is highly glamorized and dramatized and aimed at the female baby-boomers who always wanted to play cowboys as kids and think they're living out their mustang fantasy because (though their horse isn't rideable yet) the horse sniffed me! He loves me! We've bonded! Whatever. Maybe because I'm not in that demographic their snake oil hasn't worked on me. And come on, anybody who says "The reason you do not see our people wearing helmets is because we try to teach people that rather than be brave because they are wearing a a helmet to protect them, they would be better off not riding until their horse is behaving safely." should be slapped. It's true that unsafe horses shouldn't be ridden and that a helmet will not save you from every injury, but at which Parelli level do you learn to defy gravity? Accidents happen and any horse professional should encourage novices to wear helmets. Sorry, done with the rant. Moving on.

So needless to say I wasn't exactly jumping up and down when my BO's suggestion was "Maybe you should try some roundpen work" to help solve Junior's pushy behavior. BUT after this weekend that is exactly what I'm going to do. He's a smart horse and a very active minded creature and our first little session into it was very interesting and successful. I am now looking at roundpen work as similar to what I've noticed happening in showmanship practice. It's all about body language and establishing yourself as Alpha and honoring the horses's willingness to cooperate. Just like how showmanship has greatly improved his mouthiness and attentiveness, round pen work will improve that attentiveness and it should be another step to increasing our bond.

I spent a lot of time talking to Clinician Dawn Hurlburt of Equuspeak.com about Juniors issues. She specializes in the behavior of therapy horses. She listened very carefully and after working with him in the pen reinforced my assumption that it's mostly a bad habit of being able to bully people during unsupervised grooming and tacking. (He has never been allowed to bully under saddle, as either me, Max's Girls, or KAT was supervising the riding.) He uses that situation to try to get out of work and possibly because he might be anticipating the uncomfortable Newbie riders. Dawn assessed (though she is not a vet) by observing him for a few hours that he is highly unlikely to be experiencing ulcers. I told her how I dealt with the kick on Thursday and how I deal with him when he's super bad on the cross ties and she said I was doing the right thing. She confirmed my belief that whenever a horse does something that could endanger the handler (biting or kicking) the horse must be punished in the same way that another horse would react. Though people get bent out of shape about striking horses, when it's done fairly and at the right moment and intensity it is within their realm of understanding. Horses don't understand time outs.

So what about timing? Could round pen work have helped us earlier in our relationship? I don't know, but NOW is when it has entered our life. When I think back, it took at least 6 months for him to even notice my presence. It was a long time before he seemed to look to me for any sort of guidance or support. He "liked" me, but he wasn't seeing me as Alpha. We're still not there yet, but I feel a huge improvement in that department has occurred in the few months since our move. The trails and his uneasiness but willingness, the crazy obstacles and his generally blind faith in my guidance, and the whole experience of the Cowboy Challenge (totally new place, no lunging, wacky obstacles he'd never seen, tying to the trailer for hours, etc.) have been tests of our bond and status. Now that I see how far we've come I am hopeful and excited to see how far we can get.

I remember a long long time ago when I was showing Banee in a trail class at a 4-H horse show. Trail was different back then. There were usually only a few areas of poles, not the crazy grids they use now. One of the obstacles was a line of three barrels. The task was to walk past the barrels and then back a serpentine between the barrels and all the way back to the start. Dear old Banee wasn't the calmest horse and though she'd zoom back and do an "L" between poles, backing around something she was used to doing a turn n' burn around was not in her radar. My teen self was angry that such a ridiculous task was required. The judge explained to us all that the task was about having a horse that would place each foot at the discretion of the rider. I though she was nuts. But now I understand. And now I'm ready for that kind of refinement. It seems a lot less about drilling maneuvers as it is about creating a horse that listens and obeys each little cue. A horse that's highly attentive and willing to do what you ask. I think Junior is the kind of horse who will be awesome at this. I'm excited to see what we can do together.

And what of the other two mantras? Well, I'm hoping that trying lots of "disciplines" and methods will make us more well rounded without getting too bogged down into ONE WAY of doing something. We'll find things in all the experiences that work for us. And if something isn't fun anymore (like western pleasure) we'll move onto something else. :)

The video below is Dawn's first moments in the pen with Junior. What she says at the end is "I got forward movement" because the first exercise is getting the horse to move forward and then you reward by releasing the pressure. Ideally the horse stops and waits for the next set of instructions. I don't know anything more than the little things we did but I know there's a ton more to it. At the end, Dawn paid me a compliment and said that I had a natural body language and talent for the work. I don't really believe her, but I was certainly flattered. She complimented Junior right away. I couldn't help but glow. :)

Obstacle Training and Trail Ride Day

I. AM. EXHAUSTED. I am also a weakling because I should NOT be this tired from 2.5 hours in the saddle.... even if it was 90 degrees outside.

It was one of those days I wished I had a personal photographer to follow me around!

Today was the monthly obstacle training and trail ride event at my barn. My BO is one of the trainers and one of the mounted sheriff/police guys is usually the other trainer but he couldn't be there today. Junior isn't afraid of "stuff" but it is always good to build trust with "no really, you can do this, it won't hurt you....see?" kind of activities and I wanted to go on the trails with the BO so she could help us negotiate the creeks. For the obstacles he was a champ with everything. He knocked over the jump we tried to walk over but that was a lack of coordination, not confidence! He even served as the leader pony for some of the other less confident horses many times. He had walked under the streamer trellis and over the bridge before but we also got to do lots of new stuff.

So today for the first time we:

• Attempted to rope the plastic steer head...my roping skills leave a lot to be desired but he did not mind the activity...
• Opened, went through, and closed the rope gate
• Went through the shredded tarp curtain
• Went through and backed through the aisle with the pool noodles sticking into the middle (maybe I should have taken pictures!)
• stuck our front feet into and walked through a truck tire
• went over and backed over a big flat wooden circle
• kept one end of a board on a barrel while holding the other end and walking around the barrel in a circle
• dragged a pole by a rope forwards and backwards
• AND PLAYED WITH BALLS!!!

This ball is not so big, it's a yoga ball like Stacy Westfall uses. Junior thought it was fun but he was bored with it by the time I took out my phone... oh, and next time I take video with my iphone I will try and remember to hold it sideways...sorry :)

THIS ball was HUGE! I was very surprised that he did not mind it at all. I even had him push it backwards.

Then we went through nearly all of the trail system included a big part we hadn't been through yet that was pretty steep and included a very scary creek crossing. The BO was impressed with his willingness to do things even when they are clearly scary to him. Now that I think about it we have come an awfully long way in two years! I'm excited to try that part of the trail again. What bothered him most was waiting for it to be our turn to cross the creek beds. He got very head tossy and agitated while in a group of 6 but later on the new part when we were only three horses he was much better. He still didn't like to wait. It seems he likes to lead more than follow, but he does like to have somebody else there.

I told the BO today that I want them separated from now on. Of course this was NOT a problem at all and tonight he'll start going out with only one other gelding, either Ranger (a sweet 1/2 Arab who JR was in the sand lots with before he was put with the full herd) or with Max. His neck looked a ton better today and was hardly swollen at all after the ride. Gunner was hurt too, after all with a big bite on his hip that made him a bit off. I talked to his owner and she and I were both happy to see them separated.