just sneaking in under the February radar...

ahhh. I've had a day off on this day of extra-ness. I like to spend my days off going to the US and visiting Tractor Supply or Price Chopper for wonderfully American food, or, if i'm feeling especially adventurous, I go to Burlington or other towns in Vermont for a lookaround and a little shopping.

This morning I helped my friend load her reluctant 4 year old who is off to board at her trainer's barn.

The 4 year old is a very nice girl, has only been lightly started and ridden away and is a very nice example of starting a horse slowly and for success. She was keen to get on the trailer, but her hooves kept slipping so she became a little nervous. We packed the ramp with manure, as that was the best non-slip material around, and went at it with two people. She would get two feet on, take a bit of feed and then back off. Nothing flighty or panicky, just that was her rhythm. I did pressure/release and if she backed off the ramp, she got to back up a way further after that. Eventually she came onto the trailer and we praised her and quickly got the back fastened up! When we got to the barn, little girl did not want to back off the trailer. My friend was doing her utmost to persuade, push, coax, physically move, but, as we all know, a human cannot move a horse that does not want to be moved. So, the trainer, also my Western riding guru, said 'use the chain'. A couple of days ago I would have cringed at that, given how I have seen the chain used, but Ms. Guru is a guru for a reason, and her way of using the chain is the gentlest, least fighty way I can imagine. She had her put it on, and just gently apply and release pressure, on, off, on off, asking the horse to move back. She wasn't in the least bit interested, so she asked her with more pressure, on off, on off, and not a couple of minutes after this, she took a step, then hesitated for a while, then after about 5 minutes, she was off. She made her do it again, loading her with the chain this time, but instead of creating a whole load of pressure, as I believed was the way, she had her do pressure/release, pressure/release, ever so smoothly, just taking up the slack and releasing. the horse decided to enter the trailer without the ramp, coming from the side, and it took about 10 minutes, but she did it. Then she did it again, and again, and the last time was almost instantaneous. And this was a horse who had never had a chain on her at all. There was no fuss, no anger, no yanking, no jerking, just pressure, release, which is what I strive for with all my training or handling. It was a breath of fresh air. I know that this feeling won't last long, just until I'm battered with twisted logic again, but I will bear it in mind and remain above the unfair treatment.

Preserve your memories. They're all that's left you.

It was 13 years ago to the day that my first pony, Ollie, was put to sleep after some horse kicked him in the field. Ollie, Oliver, Ol, Wol, whatever I was calling him that day, was a complete babe. I've written about him in some earlier posts, but basically, he went from being a mutt that wouldn't do a thing for anyone, to storming round cross country courses, winning me under 12 jumping classes and posting tidy first level dressage scores. He was 13.3hh, utterly mixed breed, no idea how old, probably from Ireland, a wonderful red bay with black points, two white back socks with ermine marks, cow hocked, had a high stepping trot like a little Hackney, could gallop faster than any of my friends' ponies, enjoyed - I think! - our hacks out on our own where I'd take him to a strip of grass along a quiet country lane and let him run, commentating a big race finish to myself in my head, or when I'd head up to the field that ran alongside the A66 in Darlington and from a rolling start, race the big lorries as they slowed down for the roundabout, or race to get away from the intercity trains that would hurtle past 'round the 'Plantation' as we called it, ones that hadn't stopped at Darlington station. We were maybe 15 metres from the track at the closest point. You'd hear the tracks start to vibrate, then sing, and then the roar, and oh MY if you weren't off that bit of the path in seconds, you'd get a bum's rush outta there! It seems most of my memories are of going FAST on my little bay guy. And I'm so glad I have them. I had a proper pony childhood, going out aged 7, 8, 9 with slightly older friends, going to the corner shop, trotting down to the river at Neasham, across roundabouts that were pretty busy!! Aged 10, 11, going out on my own, fantasising as we were practising jumping that we were winning junior European competitions! Ahhhhhh. Fortunately, I knew how lucky I was. I was naive, but I knew that much.

I still miss him, although it doesn't hurt. Sometimes I dream about him, and we're galloping or just spending time with each other. I don't dream about any other animal that's passed, so I think that's pretty special.

Pragmatism

As usual, I found this link from nosing round other blogs, but Mugwump's link to 'Pragmatic Horsemanship' has, I feel, given me a lot to read! This quote in particular, from Ben Moxon:

"If we are going to get rid of the negative anthropomorphism, we really need to get rid of the positive as well for our position to make sense.'

Unfortunately, some people I work with DO feel that a certain horse is 'out to get them' or fighting on purpose, and that they need to be dominated. I have a real problem with that mindset and more often than not end up playing devil's advocate and p'ing people off when I won't agree that the horse picked the fight and it's good that the human 'won'.


I am as guilty as anyone as thinking my horse might 'love' me. Well, not Frankie. He doesn't love anyone. But he accepts me and lets me do stuff with him. But other horses who may be snuggly or friendly. But I also know it's important to keep boundaries and be firm with horses that are too pushy or friendly. I just don't ever believe that a horse wants to cause you to smack them or shank them in the face, or anything else a human's temper can conjure up.

I've put in the video of me doing two time changes on Chelsea, the reining mare.

successful day!

pretty girl! acting sensible...

plotting her buckscapades

treats for flying changes?

Ear-eye view

Today dawned sunny and bright. Ice is still very much present all over the ground, but the sun is so warm, we got the barn heaters off, doors and windows open so the woolly girls could bask while they ate their mashes.

Amber's right hind was swollen yesterday from hock to pastern and today it was even worse so she came in for a cold hose and a poultice wrap. I'm supposed to be displaying her at the Salon du Cheval in Quebec City in mid-May, but if her shoulder is still stiff and she keeps injuring herself like this, it's not going to happen! It was still swollen when I replaced it for her second hosing, so she's spending the night in the makeshift corral in the indoor arena with Mae as company.

Friday is trail day for Tatoum and I, where weather allows. She was a pig with me yesterday. Once she gets wound up, that's it for calming back down. The big doors were open on the arena to let some sun in, and she freaked, sidepassing past the yellow tempo that's up at the back. She snorted and pulled and jigged her way round, eventually letting me take some control back and we practiced bits of CEF Level 1 test 2. However, she's finding leg yield left difficult and instead of working through it, when she's het up, she likes to either go sideways and not forward, or just stay on the spot, legs moving, ears in my mouth. She did one good 'rep' but then spooked when some snow fell off the roof and careered sideways into the wall, twice, so at that point I had had enough, made her buckle RIGHT down, and we did figure 8s with flying changes for a few minutes. She's fine going KXM, so right to left lead, but finds left to right hard. She got it maybe the 5th time when I made the angle for the changeover more accute. She was breathing very hard and sweating, bearing in mind it was 'hot' at 4c! As soon as she did it, I got off her, loosened the girth and led her around. She can  be very rewarding hard work sometimes! So today, we went exploring the new trails and had a good canter up a firm snowy slope.



So that was good. Then, my second ride was Mr. Plasticbags R Gonna Kills Me. Tyler and I have had the big blue tarp out all week for working everyone with it. Even Tatoum's been subjected to the fun! He was the only one who hasn't done it yet. So, I put my deep seated trail saddle on him, shortened my stirrups and went for it. It wasn't nearly as bad as I thought. He wouldn't even walk past it at first; he scraped us along the wall whilst keeping both of his eyes and ears on it in case it leapt up to attack him (complete opposite of Mama Grace, whose first act was to grab it in her teeth and shake it around!) I circled him closer around it and eventually approached it. He wanted to run back or sideways, but I said that wasn't acceptable, so we dithered for a long time. Lilly, who has been doing it every day, was freaked out by his reaction, but went over it right in front of his nose. This scared him, because it crinkled. He finally got a whisker of his toe on it, and it rustled, so he leapt backwards. Then we repeated this with half a hoof, the whole hoof, and then...he stepped on it!! From then, he was fine. Snorty, but fine. I was very proud. It was nowhere near as traumatic as the bags from the ground, so next step will be white feed sacks to walk over (he currently lives with three in his stall)

Finally, Tyler and I went for a lovely trail on Ella and Mae. We cleared some branches, crossed a stream, clambered up a snowbank to get around a fallen tree, gaited and cantered on packed snow and generally had a lovely time. Ella is very snorty, as this is her first winter doing trails, but she's pretty game. Mae was good, plenty bucky, but I'm determined to work on that!