Taking it Back to Basics

Last week, when things were slow, I did some more reading.
Specifically, over at Mugwump Chronicles, Which is, by far, one of my favorite places to go for training information.   This post in particular is about retired/former rope horses.  I read it several times so that the info could really sink in, and then let it go.

Sunday I finally got to ride again.  Mcdiesel had just reworked his arena for me.  I had on my new summer riding hat. It was warm but not scorching and I was feeling pretty good.

My horse on the other hand actually moved to the other side of the pen when I went out to get him.  Its been a long time since he has done that.  I took that as a sign that he had no interest in repeating our last ride.   The good news is that we were both on the same page as far as that goes, and I was armed with a new game plan to avoid it.

We started with our ground work, as always, and our transitions. It was as if the last ride had never happened.  (wheewww)

When I mounted up we flexed a little, back up a little, and then we walked. We walked a lot.  We did the rope gate, we did the "back through an L", we did some side passing (FYI- I forgot my spurs, so we worked without them, and although he doesn't move off my leg as quickly he still does it) and we kept on walking.  Every time he would try to speed up I would push my butt into the saddle and tell him to walk. I tired not to use any rein contact, but if I did I kept it light. If he followed my cues without the use of reins, I praised and praised and praised.  I tried to be very aware of all my body parts.  What are my legs saying? What are my hands saying?

I noticed one of the times I watched my video that there were times when my hands were saying "stop" but the rest of me was saying go.  So I want to really avoid that from now on.

It is funny to ride him, especially when we are learning stuff.  His little ears just flick back and forth constantly.  I assume that means he is paying attention.  They always move back if I say something, or at least one will, sometimes both.

Pretty soon I started asking for a trot. Slight squeeze with my legs and a verbal command. We would trot for 20 feet, then I'd ask for the walk, trying desperately to not use my hands, or to save them as a last resort.  It took quite a while, but finally I was able to get several downward transitions without touching the reins, so we moved on.  I added in the extended trot, and again it took quite a while but eventually I was getting good response with very little, if any rein contact.  

I wondered if I should stop there, (and maybe I should have) but felt like we were making good progress so we kept going.  We seriously do pretty good till I start asking for a little speed, then the marathon runner in him takes over.  But, even with that, it was never bad.  We just  had to work a little harder at it. I let him do a lot of cantering in rectangles (rather than circles, it  keeps him from dropping his shoulder) and if I felt him wanting to charge off, I would just say "easy" and plant my butt. If that didn't get the response I wanted, then I simple change my rectangle and make a turn. He never once felt out of control, just a few times if there was a lot of arena in front of him, he would try to speed up without me asking.  So I'd throw a turn in that he wasn't expecting.  It wasn't too long before he was dropping his head and moving along nice and relaxed.  We never argued, and that was my goal.

After I had him to what I felt was sufficiently warmed up, we moved on to something else.  Trax is great at loping in circles, but asking him to lope for 30 feet and then drop back down to a trot, or a walk...well that is a whole different story.  So we went back to our transitions.  Walk, trot, extend the trot, lope, trot, walk, and all over again.  He didn't care for it much but with some work was beginning to pay attention at least.  When I got 3 downwards transitions from a lope to a trot without me having to ask more than once, I ended that exercise so he could stew on it a while.

We did a couple of more trail exercises and then I decided to see what would happen if we attempted our pattern again.  After I made that decision I wondered if I would regret it.  I did not.

We walked to the center, we trotted, we stopped. 1.25 spin to the right. R lead lope in a small circle, Lead change, left lead lope around opposite end, extend the lope down the side of the arena, stop, 2.5 spins to right,, R lead lope to other end, trot over poles at end of the arena, right lead extended lop down the side, stop, 2.5 spins to the left, back up.

The only thing he didn't do perfectly were his spins.  Not that he wasn't trying to do them, he just fell out a little on his hind end. He stopped when I asked, he slowed down for the trot when I asked, he slowed down for the lead change when I asked.  It was truly a beautiful run.  Of course I don't have it on tape. LOL

We called it a day and I let him roll and  graze for a while.  When I put him back in the trailer he laid his head on my shoulder for a minute.  I guess that means we are friends again.

It is hard to pose and hold the camera at the same time...with a horse.  
I am totally digging my new riding hat.
Shades my head and my face, but lets plenty of air through. 

Dirty sweat- the latest in Ranch Pony Attire. 

Nom Nom Nom

"But Lady, the Grasses are out here and I am still hungry!"

I got to spend  a little time with the cutest little elf baby grandson over.
Little Nikko.   I asked if he could go for a pony ride, but his mom says he is too young.
Bummer
(I was Kidding)

I spent all day Saturday working on the new trailer.
I pulled out the old mats, pressure washed the inside, then cut new mats to go in.
Then took it over the welders for a few repairs.
Still need to fix the plastic and replace some screws with rivets.
We learned the hard way that this trailer cannot be pulled with TC's new pick up.
I have successfully dented 3 out of 4 fenders on it.  Twice on this trailer alone.
One time all I did was pull it forward, but the incline was enough to cause it to hit.  UGH!
From now on, we use the flat bed. 

But all in all it is looking pretty good, and I would even call it usable right now. 

All in all it was a pretty good weekend. I am looking forward to getting a few more rides in this week. I hope we will get to go the fair grounds at least once. But I'm not sure that we will. This month is piling up quickly with things to do!

I hope that everyone had a great relaxing weekend as well.

Herd Nerds

Through Sammi's blog I found this.

http://herdnerds.weebly.com/index.html

Kind of cute, and just getting off the ground.

Stop by and show a little love.

Are You Sure?

As I sit here in my office, in a long sleeve shirt, huddled in front of my little heater, and still wishing I had a sweater, I have to ask...

Are you sure it is almost June?

I purchased some Fly Predators because it was warming up and the flies were starting to congregate in my barn.  I put them out on Monday.
I'm pretty sure they all froze to death last night.

I also bought some Bye Bye Odor to spray in my stalls.  I think it is going to work nicely. I clean them regularly of course, but Danny and Sassy both insist on peeing inside. The dirt gets smelly and it makes the whole barn reek.  I used it for the first time this morning.  It was only 48 out this morning. (Are you sure it is almost June?)  I could tell the difference immediately!  Next I will use it under and on my deck where my lazy dogs have been peeing.

It has not been good riding weather, and I still do not feel very good. I just can't shake the nausea.  But hopefully I can at least get a little trail ride in this weekend. I still haven't even had time to try out my sidepull.

My grandson is coming to visit for the first time tomorrow, I have to get my old trailer cleaned out and ready to go (I sold it while we were at the show) which means I need to get to work on the new trailer so I can use it.  Our first load of stuff is going to AZ in 2 weeks, so I need to start getting that together too.

Are you sure its almost June?

Broken

A couple of folks suggested I try a running martingale on Trax.

So as always, when someone suggests something, I take it to heart and try to determine if it is the right answer.

I did some reading, did some thinking, and then discussed it with my trainer.

He basically said that they work great for some horses.  He also said that some horses get into trouble with them, because they feel "trapped".  He said we could try it if I wanted.

I let that sink in for a moment.

"Trapped"

What happens when Trax feels trapped?        He runs like hell.

And if that doesn't get him untrapped?            He bucks...like hell.

I envision previous roper owner sailing tits over teakettle into the dirt.  (ok, yes I admit I giggle a little)

I've not been through that with Trax.  Nor do I care to.

I think some more.
I think about our training sessions. I think about flexing him at the jaw. I think about how in just a couple of months I/we have been able to get him to trust me enough as a rider to let him self relax and drop his head.  He is learning to move off the hind. He is learning, in spite of my lack of riding skills.  In spite of me, and with Marks help, we are slowly undoing years of damage. It is taking time.

It reminds me of when I was new in recovery. I was broken.  I wanted an easy fix to make me better again.  I wanted a magic potion that I could take to help me instantly make better decisions, quit with the bad habits, change my way of thinking. There wasn't one. I had to do the foot work and ask God to guide me. I fell down, I made mistakes, but I kept pushing forward.  Slowly, over time, and only by the grace of God, (and the help of a sponsor) was I able to get better at it. But it took a long time. It is still an ongoing process.

Thus, is the story of "Makin Trax".  He is broken, just like I was. He needs help learning to make the right decisions.  He needs to decide that he wants to get along.  It needs to be his decision to rate me when I ask, it needs to be his decision to stop when I ask. He has to make the decision to trust me. Granted, there are things I can do to help him make the right decisions,(insert "Make the right decision easy and the wrong decision hard") but the decision still has to be his.  Other wise it is just a tug of war, and I will lose every time.  If I lose, he fails.  Trax has begun to make the right decisions, all on his own, unless he feels like he can't trust his rider. Then he takes the control back.

That arena, that event, was like a trigger for him. I'm sure it took him right back to his roping days.  "run fast, pain, run fast, pain pain pain, run away, get out, I want out, I want out, I can't handle it, I want out"

Then I was nervous, I put expectations on him that he wasn't ready for. He was trying to tell me that he was uncomfortable in the situation I had put him in. Instead of understanding, I got frustrated, and yes I got angry at him. Instead of backing up and breaking it down to a place he could relax, I let my emotions escalate which triggered him even more. That's really sugar coating it, the truth is, I got mad and I took it out on him. Yeah, we didn't get that part on video, but it wasn't pretty.   He said, "Hey I'm really bothered here." and instead of showing him that he could trust me, I showed him that he absolutely could not.  In doing so I set him up to fail.

I failed my horse.

The only thing I did right that day was recognize what was happening with me and stop it.  But truthfully it was already too late.  He "relapsed" because I took him into a "trigger" situation without giving him the support he needed to be ok.  I took a horse with serious trust issues, took him to a place that does not have good memories for him, and then reinforced everything he believed to be true.

I failed my horse.

So what do I do different next time?

Well I start by going back to the drawing board at home and with our lessons. Break it back down to where he is relaxed again at home and at Marks.  I have to rebuild the trust again. I don't think it will take much. (he still follows me around like a stalker, he still runs to the gate when I come out in the morning)  Then I will take him to the fair grounds to ride at least a couple of times before the next show.  It will be just like at home only at the place where he/we fell apart, but without the pressure.

Then for the next show I will just focus on us and our riding. I will warm up properly, and I won't stop warming up until he can rate me and drop his head and relax.  It might take longer than normal because his stress level will be higher, but it will take as long as it takes and I will be okay with it. We will flex at the jaw, we will move his feet, we will do all we can to take his mind off of his running away. If we miss the class because we are still warming up, then we miss the class.  If we warm up and he never comes down, then we won't run the class. I won't lose another game of tug of war. No matter what  I will support him mentally.  I will understand where he is coming from, what his weaknesses are, and help him get past them.  I will not set him up for failure.   No matter what, I will stay calm. I will mentally remove the pressure from myself, which in turn will remove any from him. I will show him that he can trust me.  Right now that is more important to me than anything else.

And if I can't stay calm?  Then I will pack him up and take him home, and know that he is not the only one who isn't ready.

Not too long ago when I was stressing over bits, a very wise Blogger said something that really made sense and I have tried to follow it ever since.   She told me, "You know your horse better than anyone, follow your gut."  And she is right.  My gut says a running martingale is not the way to go for this horse. Good training, and time is what he needs. Lots and lots of both.

Now for those of you who made the suggestion of the running martingale, I want to say an extra thanks. It was your suggestions that took me down this train of thought in the first place.  I seriously  needed to go down this road. I needed to examine what really happened to us on Saturday, and I needed to woman up and admit that I was at least 50% of the problem that day....if not more.  I mean inside I knew it, but in order to change it, I needed to say it.  I was not fair to him, I did not bother even try to understand what he was telling me. I just wanted him to listen to me.

That is not the relationship I want with my horse.  I want him to be able to say, "I'm not ok." and for me to hear it.  I want to be able to clearly say to him, "I will help you be ok." and have him believe me.  It is the foundation of the relationship...isn't it?

Trax does the Trail...Cindy does not

Here is the video for our first Trail Pattern. Trax did great.  I did not.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svsY4OzANZQ


All Critiques are welcome.

I need a new camera man

How to Sleep through Memorial Day.

First on Saturday, you wear yourself out at a horse show.
Then on Sunday, you wear yourself out some more taking the doggies to the river for a swim.
Then upon returning from the river, you fall down the stairs and sprain your ankle.
Then on Monday about midnight you start throwing up.
Continue with the nausea and vomiting for the rest of the day.
Avoid all daylight and any human contact by keeping head under covers.
Get up for work on Tuesday, and wonder what happened to your weekend.

I am totally grateful though, to the brave men and women who have risked and given their lives so that I may have the opportunity to show horses, play with my dogs in the river, and sleep for 24 hours straight when I need too.

Train Wreck Video

I will have the trail video together tomorrow, but for now here is this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tyyxh8OStQ

You might note the words to the song.  It is Jalan Crossland's "Slow Your Pony Down"

Everyone had some great comments yesterday and I haven't had time to go back and answer them all. But one thing I want to comment on is that I did have fun, and I am definitely not giving up yet.  You see, the things he wouldn't do, I know he can. I have seen him do it. I have been on him when he did it. So we just have to get over another hurdle. The more shows and events we go to the the better we will be. I know it!

I showed up, I did the best I could. I tried to execute the best horsemanship I could without just letting him run all over me. To me that was much more important that just fudging through the pattern.

Also I as I watch my video I can see that there were times when he felt awful to me, but he didn't look too too bad. Not great but not as bad as he felt, for sure.  I also wonder why I didn't push him towards the fence further knowing that he wasn't going to stop.  Perhaps that is why he wouldn't.  You see our practice arena is  smaller and I use every inch of it. So I always stopped him at the fence when we practiced that arena.  Perhaps he was trying to tell me that I was stopping in the wrong spot. LOL!

I spoke with Kim today, and she says that we should start riding at the fair grounds no less than one day a week. She offered to pick my horse up in the morning, and she will drop them both off at the stalls. It is 5 dollars to leave them there during the day. Then we can go there after work. and just HIT IT!  I am all for that!!!!

Well off to eat my dinner now.

Thank you again everyone for your wonderful comments.