The Handy Horse

Why oh Why

2012-02-01T13:08:00.000-08:00

Why do I keep doing this?

Why do I get out of bed at 6am, to be at the stables by 8am to work with my horses before I go to work..

Why ?

Because of days like today...

Because today, I was able to work with my horse and feel we made a connection.

Because today, I was able to have a break-thru and feel that I was able to earn the trust of my horse.

Because today, I was able to share an experience with my horse.

Now my horse has trust issues. She gets nervous about things. She shakes her head and gets upset, because she gets confused.

So I have been working to get her to sync with me. To get her with me. Now I am not saying I only walk her and dont really ride her. I ride her, we canter, we face up to the scary things. Yet I am trying to do it in a way that helps her confidence in me. I want her to succeed, I want her to feel at ease with me.

What that means is while I need her to face the lions den, I dont need her to go in it... yet...

I know some day she will...

I need to set things up for her to understand what I am asking, so then when I ask she understands and it is EASY for her to execute....

One of the things I noticed with the head shaking. If she thinks I am ambushing her, her head shakes and she gets upset. If I set things up to transition, then I dont get any head shake.

I need to give her time, yet not get her lazy...

Do you see?

Hi Ho!

Find trouble, before it finds you!

2012-01-18T12:19:00.000-08:00

Miss M

Yes, she is forcing me to learn, forcing me to go to examine how I do things...

Sensitive horses!

One thing I am starting to realize is that if you are riding a sensitive horse there are a couple things to take into consideration

1. When your riding, do you ever start to look around and say

"Ut-Oh" that thing over there may spook little Miss M and she may go bucking, cantering around like a mad horse, so I cant go over there...

and "Ut-Oh" that other horse is acting up and it may cause little Miss M to act up and so I cant ride by that horse...

or "Ut-Oh" here comes that truck that backfires and we cant ride by it because it may spook little Miss M..

Well dears, let me tell you, while you are worrying about those things, your riding is degraded and your horse is picking up on it...

Dont wait for the trouble, go get it.

Case in point. While warm up riding Miss M this morning I could tell something was spooking her outside the round pen. She when I mounted her I could see that it was a big piece of farm equipment left right outside the round pen walls.

Why they do that I dont know but....

So I played a game with her..

Canter up to the spooky then, then canter away...

Walk up to the spooky thing, then canter away...

You get it...

Same thing in the spooky dressage arena. I know she gets spooked when the horses on the other side of the fence buck up, and she can not see them very well...

Well lets go get em.. !!! Now lets canter away from them!!!

Yeah.. Great, what a rockstar!!!

One hoofstep at a time...

HiHo!

Its Really not that Scary ? !!!

2012-01-16T12:24:00.000-08:00

For the most part, horses want to get along. They want a leader, someone they can rely on and trust. Once that is built, the horse, usually, will follow you anywhere.

Yet, take for example what I am going through with Miss M.

She is a 6 year old, draft/thoroughbred cross. Who has not had the best deal.

Now when I get her and ride her, it seems everytime something happens. Something spooks her and we go for a canter around.

Well as a rider, after while, your going to start anticipating things. Your going to not look forward to riding. Your going to feel some measure of stress.

Yet, what about the horse. Can the horse feel the same thing.

I notice with Miss M, at first she seems happy to see me, but then when I go in her paddock with the halter, so moves away, not searching me up like my other horses, but actual moves out.

I think, honesty, she feels the same thing I do.

When I get her saddled, and head down to the arena, I can see in her eye the worry....

Now... I know the problem, now I need to build in a solution.

Its about her, you see, not me...

So I think to myself, today I am not going to press her. I am going to ride within her comfort zone and get a change on a couple "SMALL" things...

No lions den today, just move the hind, move the front... Feel me open up, try to follow my feel.

Thats all I did today, and we went back to the stall, and she seemed relaxed...

Now I need to build on that.

Horses can be sensative, and maybe Mares are more so. Yet, I know I want her searching me up, finding the sunshine while she is with me. Right now, she thinks, you know its better when your not here. I need to change that.

I remember reading some old time horse trainer, saying you need to build on the horses pride. I think in some ways that is what we are trying to do. I want to set Miss M up for success, I want her to feel like a rockstar when she is with me. Not like I am constantly challenging her, pushing her to far into the lions den. Build on her Pride, figure out that way that the horse feels good, feels good with me. Hunts that feeling up.

Miss M is about escape right now, and I need to change that. She needs to be about try.. But try comes through release and sunshine. Balance... Balance...

I learned something new today. I learned that horses can feel as we feel, maybe not exactly, but they can show us what they need.

She needs to build her confidence, and I need to be a good enough teacher to help her.

Yet I know she is a confident horse, she needs to be confident with me. We dont have that yet..

I am optimistic someday we will..

Hi Ho!

New Year!

2012-01-09T12:16:00.000-08:00

Well its the new year and so far I have not been bucked, fallen or trodden on.

SO far so good.

I didnt count just getting off, because that is so far, organized and planned.

Case in point. Yesterday while riding Emma the horses in the pasture next to the arena started bucking and cantering around. Well this set Emma off and she went to go tear off.. Well I managed to get her head and get her listening back to me.. Of course we had to work at it, but she finally came back around.

Then when I tried to ride her through it again she lost it again. So this time I circled her up and got off, worked her on the ground until she settled, until she found it was not going to hurt her, and then I got back on and rode her through it...

It took time, it took me working through my own issues before I could even get to the horses...

You know what I mean...

Riding along, everything is fine, and sunshine and the next thing your amazed you did not fall off and now you have a rocket between your legs..

Yet now, I dont bother with the Wow I didnt fall off... And We never get to rocket speed because I am usually engaging the one rein stop until I get things organized in my head.

Now I need to get better at that..

I also need to get out of the get the horses feet moving, just to move, and get to the mind...

Yesterday Emma checked out because she got scared. My job was not to scare her more. My job was to help her find a place to settle, a place to get back into the sunshine. I caught myself falling into an old routine, and then when I backed out of it, she started to let down... Ah....

Ok now I just need to do that more...

Miss M... LOL for Mighty Mighty!!!!

The other thing I think we as riders need to start taking note of is, that a horse will build trust or distrust with us.

What I dont want to have happen is whenever she is with me the sky is falling, yet I can not control the situations. IE ride her in a box, inside of a box.. Yet I can try to limit the exposure to the "Lions Den" as much as I can.

One other thing I had mentioned before is letting the horse fail, letting the horse protect themselves, letting them work out their frustration.

It would have been wrong of me to punish Miss M for taking off when she got scared. Just as it would be wrong of me to pop her in the mouth with the bit when she shakes her head. I just need to give her the rein and let her work it out, and not let it start to turn into a problem.

Hard to learn.

Hi Ho

Ride like the horse moves..

2011-12-05T13:49:00.000-08:00

One of the things I wanted to highlight is this...

Take a spooky horse, you just turned it out into a pasture, or an arena.

Watch how that horse reacts, what it is scared about, how it moves, how it reacts.

Then ask yourself, could you ride that...

Then ask yourself, could you mimic that...

Ie a horse may run up to something that spooks it, could you ask the horse to do that, mimic how they think..

Or when the turn away, the suddenly run away from it, could you encourage the horse and ride that?

Or if they are bent inward, or outward depending on what they are looking at, you should be ok with that....

HiHo!

Feel, Timing and Brace

2011-11-29T09:51:00.000-08:00

So I learned a couple things, or in the process of learning, never sure which.

The significance of softness, the impact of brace and the follow through of a good feel.

Now to those of you who dont ride or ride a different style this may not make sense to you and thats ok...

To me, it does not make sense but at least I know what I should be experiencing, what I should be feeling...

I know what I am looking for in the horse, while I may not be able to articulate it, I am able to see it, am able to experience it...

The horse should weigh nothing, the feel should be light, the experience should be like a dance.

Ok, I get it now...

I move forward the horse should move forward..

I move back, the horse should move back...

I leap out of my tracks, the horse should leap out...

My feet, their feet, one in the same...

My hands need to be steady, to support, not to confuse... lightness, float, and organization.

My body, centered, directing, energy out, eyes out... knowing where I am going.

I prepare, always... prep the horse always, give them time to catch up..

Give them time to gather, time to organize... Time to relate to my feet...

Soft... soft... soft........ like a spider web..

And when that web breaks, where there is a brace, a push...

Know the difference between the horse not being ready mentally, or physically vs a brace...

Brace is different the prep....

Know it... and how to react to it, and to time to it....

To get back to softness...

Hi ho!

Thanksgiving -

2011-11-24T11:35:00.000-08:00

Spending Thanksgiving away from family and friends so I can ride and learn... sounds strange.. not really....

My last post was about coming up to McGinnis Meadows Ranch to spend a week learning horsemanship and roping.... Well I learned something... some things kinda fit together...

Then I realized I wanted to learn more, but with vacation time short.. and money being what it is... I asked the family running the place if I could come up over the Thanksgiving week since I already had the time off... well they agreed !

So there are no guest up here except me, which in some ways is kinda lonely and in some ways just perfect...

Perfect because I don't have to listen to silly stories from people who I am really not interested in... ( not everyone just some... ). I can focus on the riding, focus on the feel and get to experience good horses and be around people who I think are just as dedicated as I am and for many of them more experienced.

So far it has been great, since there is a snow on the ground and it has been cold and rainy we have done most of the riding in the covered arena...

One of the fundamental things I am learning is there is a different approach, a different feel and in some ways I am building on the foundation I have already put together, just taking it to the next level.. Trying to understand the next way point...

I think horsemanship is a learning experiance no doubt...

But there are things we have to get out of our system, things we have to unlearn...

Like letting the horse make a mistake, not forcing the horse to do something.

Let the horse find it... let them search for it, set it up and let them find it.

You can not force it... You can not....

That is something I am going to have to unlearn, something that I am going to have to unprogram from me....

That I need the horse to think.. I need the horse to want to search for something..

I need the horse thinking about what the solution is.. I can not force them to find it..

That... that is the key.....

Setting the horse to be right on.. letting the horse go so they can find it..

being confiedent enough that I have to push it so the horse falls apart so they can put them selves back together again to be there...

Set it up, and let them find it..

Release for the smallest try...

Ride Smart...

So much I am learning... So much is like sand, just flowing through my fingers.. I never touched it...

So much....

Listening to Shayne and Randy talk today I would catch bits and pieces but so much was upper level math... I never got it...

Even watching Randy work the colts on the ground... Sometimes maybe 25% of the time I could see what was going on, see how things were shaping up..

The rest...

Wash out... Washed out...

But you know you get hungry for it... You want to spend all the time you can in the saddle, your driven, driving for it... You like a addict unable to control yourself..

You want to feel the horse, feel what is right and then feel what is wrong..

Learn and grow...

Understand how to break it apart, understand what is correct and what is not...

Hi Ho!

Part 2.

2011-11-14T10:30:00.001-08:00

Part 2.

In riding, there are a few keys I am learning. A few simple things that keep us out of trouble.

1. Balance

Regardless of how good or bad you ride, if you can keep your balance, then you have something to work with. I dont remember who told me, but I remember hearing that if the horse becomes unbalanced they become unsure. How can we expect the horse to maintain its balance if we can not maintain ours.

2. Direction

We need to know what the heck we are doing on the horses back. We are not a sack of potatoes up there. We need to direct the horse not only with our seat, legs and reins but with our energy. We need to be sure. What this means is you need to have a friggen laser beam on your head and you need to say

" I want to go here"

and by golly you better get there....

3. Work around every horse like its a hot wired colt...

We have to have good habits. Watch the best horsemen and women and you will see it. They are smooth.. I mean like groovy smooth around their horses. The horse always has a place to go if things fall apart that is safe. They move with deliberation and a quiet calm. I think in all honesty the horse actually likes this, searches for it. Every movement is practiced, because if you get sloppy with your horse, bump your horse and just behave badly what happens when you do get that touchy colt... Your gonna be in for trouble.

4. Ride

Dont be a lazy ass. Most good horsemen/women ride almost every day. You can not hone your skills if you only ride 1x per week. You are going to be in trouble. And the days you dont ride, work out. Physical fit.. Now I am not saying us chubby girls can not be fit... but it does not help.

Hi ho!

How did I get here?

2011-11-07T08:32:00.000-08:00

Yesterday while riding Emma she had a bit of a pony break down.

Nothing serious, no bucking, but a take off..

One minute she is here with me...

The next minute she is gone... with me...

At least I was with her...

It was windy, rainy and of course everyone is up... We were heading back up a piece of trail in which I had just 10 minutes had to walk her up because she froze...

You all know that feeling right?

When a horses freezes....

Its like all the energy of the universe collects in one animal, at one point of time and if, if you had rocket boosters you know you would hit the moon in 15 seconds or less...

Now, some people feel that freeze and they think the horse is being dull, or stupid....

No mother nature is telling that animal, prepare for take off...

Now some people will kick the horse in the ribs at this point, thinking silly horse!

And you know what happens then...

Usually the horse departs at light speed, the rider, unable to keep up with the horse rolls or falls off like a sack of wet wool... If they are lucky...

My advise, unless you know you can ride is, is to politely step off...

No harm, no foul.

And then you can work, on foot the spooky, scary issue and then crawl back on and see if things work out...

In this case, they didn't, or should I say they did...

Well lets review the facts..

The fact is she bolted...

Now it was going uphill.. on one side I had barbed wire, on the other head high brambles...

The hill was slick and muddy.. It had, in fact just rained...

Now I had started to engage the one rein stop...

If you dont know what this is, or how to use it... Well ask me..

But going up the hill I was afraid if she disengaged her hind quarters she could fall...

She was galloping up at a pace I could ride, my seat was centered...

So I waited until we got up to the flat, and then I stopped her...

Rockets are still in full burn...

So I got off..

I survived the power burst, ( did not roll off ), I managed to stop her, without injury to either of us, and I dismounted on my accord...

Success! Part 1.

Now Part 2. .....

Hi Ho!

Its just a lump of clay...McGinnis Reflection #2

2011-10-28T12:10:00.000-07:00

One of the thing I am walking away with is the concept of horsemanship. The concept that, in learning horsemanship, is like learning an art form. I don't care if it is painting, pottery, sculputre, jewelry making or whatever..

For me the example of pottery works.. First you start with the clay... Now I imaging the clay is myself.. You have to be able to shape yourself, be flexible be moldable.. You need to be able to shape yourself.. Be in ownership of your mind, your emotions, your reflexes... You need to find calm, stability... like a rounded ball of clay ready to be formed...

People who are hyper, who are controlling, who are not fully in charge of themselves well never be able to be that ball of clay.. They will be squares, or two balls or an oblong, or something other then right shape to start out with..

If you want to learn horsemanship, you need to learn how to be in command of yourself..

Then I think horsemanship is like making a bowl on a potters wheel. Now people like Buck can turn out vases and pitchers and cool designs and wondrous things on their potters wheels.

Yet on mine, I would be happy to just shape a bowl. A perfect, simple bowl.

I think learning horsemanship is like learning how to make that bowl. To much spin on the wheel and the thing falls out of shape, to much pressure from our hands and we loose the shape, to much water and the entire structure falls, to little and it breaks apart. It is a fine dance between the force of our bodies and the starting material, the horse. It is blending of the two.

This week I learned how to move around a horse, how to be smooth, gentle, or strong depending on the situation. I learned to support the horse in a way that felt good to him, felt right to him, so he wanted to be around me. Not with treats, ( though they have their place too ), but with the energy of my body and the smoothness of my motions. The direction of my energy.. All this combines to make the horse feel at ease, correct and safe..

It is in the end, all they are looking for, direction and support.

HiHo~

McGinnis Ranch - Reflections One

2011-10-27T16:57:00.000-07:00

So I have spent the last 7 days up in Montana at a guest and cattle ranch called McGinnis.

I am sitting here in the lodge on the last day of riding, listening to the other guests share pictures and talk about the day...

I reflect on the days... they seemed to go so fast.

Up at 6am, gather the horses by 6:30, saddle and grain, and then breakfast at 8am.

Then out on in the arena at 8:30 until 12pm. Lunch.

Then head out and gather the cows we will work from 1 to 5pm till we grain again and turn them out..

Sort, cut, rope, and ride...

5 solid days of riding, 5 solid days of learning, experiencing, and trying to make the horse I was riding better, trying to be better, smoother, softer, better with my legs, better with my seat, better with my hands...

Trying to be better...

Trying...

Yet don't let me misguide you... It was tough, it was cold .. 18* in the morning, and maybe 40 or so in the afternoon...

It is dusty, cowey and windy...

Yet in the morning we had the best breakfasts, the lodge is wonderful! ( better then my house ) and the dinners.... YUM!...

There were stories too.. One of the owners Shanye shared his experiences, shared his knowledge, shared his wreck stories to we could hopefully learn from them.. Shared the fact that none of us were born riding, we were born to learn born to study, born to get better...

Of we should...

Hi Ho!

Ricky Quinn Clinic - Thoughts Part 2

2011-10-04T18:38:00.001-07:00

Ricky Quinn – Part 2

What’s the wrong with you horse type people!

One of the key learning’s I had over the last four days is how much people screw up their horses. I mean honestly. Ricky was working with horses over the weekend and the key theme I heard was :

1. You should not be riding this horse.

2. You should not buy a horse because of its color.

3. Did the horse do this when you bought it? No? And you wonder where it came from? You!

Duh...

4. You need to get down to the feet. You need to get a change. Otherwise your just building a problem.

The other things that happened and I wont name names, is that we were riding, and some of the riders were you know, being boss mares with each other, and then I looked over to someone and said, and you wonder why the horse is screwed up! LOL, they started busting up!. But you know, its not funny.

Its not funny at all.

How people can take a perfectly fine horse, a good natured, animal and turn it into a psycho, glitchy, screwed up thing….

That’s about the worst thing a person can do…

Your horse is a mirror, to you…

The other thing is that even good riders get bucked off. Even experienced, people who ride every day, get bucked off… Part of the issue I see is your so caught off guard you have no time to recover. No time to react. Damn!

So all in all… Take a look at a persons horse, then reflect for a moment on the person, and think to yourself, is that horse a true reflection of the person?

I think 100% of the time, they are a perfect mirror of what that human put into them… a perfect mirror…

HiHo!

Ricky Quinn - Part 1

2011-10-03T10:50:00.000-07:00

So I just spent four days riding my horse. Which sounds like a lot but in reality seems like nothing. Someone says they took four days of holiday and you say wow, you must be relaxed…

You say you rode your horse for four days, in a clinic situation and it is the opposite. It feels like work. It feels at times like you’re the best hand, and at others like you’re the worst.

We spent four days at Paicines Ranch down by Hollister. It’s a working cattle ranch, if there is such a thing anymore. Ricky Quinn was the clinician who is a carbon copy in many ways of Buck Brannaman. I am not saying that as if it was a bad thing. I think the more guys and gals that we have walking around out there who practice what Buck preaches is a good thing. It reminds us students of what we are trying to learn even through we are not getting the change to sit with “ Buddah “ per say.

Sometimes just listening and seeing the word is enough.. being reminded of what it does, the power of it, the precision, the timing and of course the feel.

One of the key lessons I think from these last four days has been the importance of getting down to the feet. Sometimes your lucky, and you get the mind, and then you get the feet. Other times though, when you hit a brace, you just got to get to the feet. You got to get the horse searching for the answer, hunting up the release, moving the feet to find the answer. Sometimes a horse can get so bothered that it does not know how to follow the feel. How to search for what the human is asking.. Sometimes the horse will just fall down. Because it is so bothered, it can not find its feet. Over this weekend I observed that. I observed a horse so twisted up by the human that the darn thing could not even work out a try for the human, it just flopped down when it got to a certain point. It had never been offered a good feel, never been offered a place to go, never been offered release at the right time, in the right place with its feet.

Another is that we should never stop being a student, never stop trying to learn how to get better, lighter, better timing, more life, better people and better horses.

We should try not to take it personal, and try to remember it from the horses perspective. Remember why we are there, why we want those feet to move, what purpose is there.

I know Ricky asked me that, and I said well they are my feet, so where I want to go, they should go... Of course I just pulled out a Ray Hunt saying, but it is what I thought too. Yet he said it should go beyond that, there should be a goal, a reason why... Yes... its thinking, we are thinking. We need our horses thinking, searching, trying to find the reason.

Hi Ho!

You are my sunshine!

2011-09-27T15:37:00.000-07:00

So I am learning something about horses.. Learning about how they think.

It is a fascinating journey. I am also learning, how much they can turn to rely on us, and how we can build on that, use it to strengthen our relationship with the horse.

One thing that came into focus was last night it was late, and dark and I turned Marshal out in a large spooky jumping arena and he went bucking off into the night. Later he came charging up to me, and put his head down for a rub... then once assured, he went off bucking into the dark deep again... A little while later back he comes for a rub...

I was his herd.. I was his assurance. I need that in the saddle and together, we can do anything.

Hi Ho!

What, did I fall off a horse?

2011-09-19T14:57:00.000-07:00

no...

I just got busy.. finals, work, finals work, home, finals...

gah!!!

Have I rode my horse, yes... but not as much as I would have liked...

Have I still cowgirl'd up..

Yes...

I have a red headed horse that is my pistol...

She keeps me ready, baby..

Key lesson learned...

How do I balance...

Asking and telling and waiting for the horse to figure out what I am looking for...

how do I reward?

hiho

What goes on in there?!?!?

2011-07-18T12:37:00.001-07:00

I am learning more about horses, and more about myself...

I think it is true, through a persons horses you can tell alot about them.

Who they are as people, what they are like at their worst, or their best...

Horses are mirrors to our souls... yes very true...

I love it when someone hands me the lead rope to their horse... In less then 15 minutes I can tell alot about that horse and the relationship it has with its people..

I can tell how it has been handled, how it thinks...

Yet what about my own horses..

Still reflecting the other day while on a trial ride with Kristi and Jennifer I reflected on how Phooka was doing. I am proud of the big guy, he is pretty solid. Yet there was a point on the trail we came across something he had not seen..

Well he got a little upright... a little cautious and I let him take his time figuring things out.

I did not ride him up to the scary thing and say "Hey you got to get over that scary thing!"

Since I figure he may not even know what was bothering him...

So I let him move away from the problem but continue to follow my arms and legs.. and I did not focus on the scary thing, but a point on the trail away from it. I put us there in my energy and my mind.

Well he was fine..

At one point on the trail ride there we a bunch of paths that separated and I didn't know which one to take. We were in the lead and I felt Phooka sense I was unsure, I felt his feet slow down and felt him prick up his ears a bit. Once I got figured which trail I was supposed to be on he settled with me. But he sensed that I was no longer sure... Once my courage faltered a bit, so did he...

Interesting..

While in my lesson, She who cannot be named told me to slow the feet down... Well I had not asked for the feet to be slowed down and then SWCNBN said release.. Well I said I had not asked for it.. well then SWCNBN said I must have thunk it..

So next time she asked me to slow the feet down, I tried thinking it.. And she said, well do it, and I said I was thinking it and the horse had not picked it up.

Yes how to win friends... LOL...

So two things.. You can be thinking of alot of things, but unless it translates down to your seat, your motion, your hands, the horse will not pick it up.. But sometimes we can be unaware this is happening.. Unaware that we are "preparing" without knowing we are giving the horse cues.

You see I got to thinking about this after my issue with Marshal. Because he had been so brave and courageous. Well now I have to work on his bravery again, his courage, his ability to trust me when his instincts tell him to check out. And I have to be more diligent with him even on the subtle cues because he is already suspicious... You see...

Do you really see?

Hi Ho

On Getting Bucked Off

2011-07-14T11:02:00.000-07:00

Lizabeth On Getting Bucked Off .. -

I don't mind so much the violence of the horse rejecting me, or the way the air laughingly plays with my limbs akimbo, but with the way the earth always seems to accepts me - Flat on my back and knocked out of breath!

I say this after careful reflection after getting bucked off yesterday by my little bucky boy...

I should have seen it coming, I should have been ready..

Even as I realized in the vague haze of what was happening, I never had a chance..

I was pissed at myself...

So lets start at the beginning which is where all good storys start.

Its weds - which is ride with the Dude's day..

I always look forward to this because its my time to get Marshal moving around a bunch of other horses and we usually do all the transitions. Its my time to work on picking up and holding the soft feel from walk to trot and getting a good canter on the right lead.. and holding it..

So i get him saddled and everything is going good.. Its a windy day.. cold.. For July?!?!?! Go figure!

So when I walk him out of the barn he is already a little snorty...

So we head down by the dreaded wine making equipment - Which he is always suspicious of.. and he knows something is different... Now I am riding him by this time.. and he is like.. You know I am not going to take a step..

Now usually I can get baby steps out of him but this time his neck is erect and he has his landing gear out..

Now I can see what has changed..

Over the wine vats they have placed a huge canopy which is flapping dreadingly in the wind...

Now I ignore it because I know he does not know what is different, only something is changed..

So we try to get the steps and he is not moving... So I start thinking maybe I will have to walk him past it...

( since the day before we had the same issue but at a different location of the stables, and after we walked by the spooky item I moved him around a bit and he started bucking out his nervousness... then I got back on and we rode pretty good the rest of the afternoon )

Well just when I started thinking I would walk him by it a horse was walking a ways past it and Marshal kinda hooked on to that horse and we moved past it..

Excellent..

Now he moved kinda quick but I did not worry to much about it..

So we turned the corner, quickly and headed into the arena..

Well in the arena they have added a bunch of huge trees to provide shade ( in the summer )..

Well he is still not used to these...

So when we trot into the arena, he is up, he sees the trees, he knows something is screwed up and cant not put his finger on it, and then I almost go pell mell into a girl having her lesson and the silly trainer sitting in her little lawn chair in the arena holding her dumb little dog..

So i try to get around these guys and SLOW his feet and then it happened..

BUCK!

Well I am not a bronc rider and off I go...

The lawn chair trainer tells me I should lunge him, and I tell her I should ride him better.. and I trudge, pride in hand down to the mounting block and get back on..

Now I get his feet moving.. I mean twisty pony!

I am not angry with him, I am not even angry with myself... I am disappointed with myself because I did not keep him moving, try to refocus him..

So we do twisty pony a little bit and he snorts, shakes it out and we were good to go the rest of the evening..

What did I learn?

I learned that if the horse stops and REFUSES to go.. its because something is REALLY bothering him...

Get off..

Walk him past it....

Then get back on...

Make it no big deal..

But if you think your a good hand, and you ride past it..

Then keep your horse moving..

Keep him focused on something ( ie you and what you are asking him to do!!!)

Until you feel him free up.. then you can go back to whatever you were doing...

But when-ever this happens.. Think about what happened, before what happened, happened..

Now I am sure Marshal thinks that something past that scary thing and before the arena is what got him..

So he will be suspicious of that area for awhile so I need to be sensitive to that...

You gotta break it apart... Find that sticky part and dont go there again...

LOL

Why the hell did you ride up to the lions den!!!

DUH!

HiHo!

LZO!

Buck - The Movie?

2011-07-13T14:40:00.000-07:00

I wanted to write about the movie “Buck” to highlight some key points from my perspective.

Primarly, that the movie was not really about the horses, or even the people that follow Buck… Which I think is in an interesting tale in itself.

Nor was it really about Buck as it failed ot really show the man. Because in order to understand a Man you need to understand what created him. Understand what surrounds him..

To know in the highlights and lowlights who he is.

They talked only about his Dad, and only about the abuse, but never why they started roping in the first place. They mentioned his Mom ( birth) but not about her, who she was, who her people were, nor was this discussed about the father. You never got a sense of the brother, Smokie.. What their relationship was, how it developed. Once he moved to his foster parents you never get a sense of them.. You really don’t know where he came from… Who he is…

Only the face of who he is today.

We are told he made the jump from trick roping to horse training because????
I never got it.. Was it Ray Hunt that inspired him? Who, what was it..
How did he get hooked.. Would he want to admit it? We never know.

So if it was a story about a man, I still don’t know who that man is. It left me, confused.

If it was a story about the horses, I never got it.. Never got the horse.. You never got down to my feet.

If it was a story about the people that follow Buck…You lost me.. I don’t know who they are, or why they are interested.

It was a meager attempt in my minds eye to tell a story.. A powerful, interesting story.. that is still not told..

Its all about the equipment

2011-07-05T13:45:00.000-07:00

Had a great weekend getting a handle on a few horses.

It is always educational to me to watch how other people interact with their horses and how their horses respond to them.

Some things across a broad enough pool are highlighted over and over again..

Do you know what your horse is doing? Do you care where the feet are at..

Do you ambush you horse?

Be aware.

Common themes that through just haltering a horse and leading them around you can un-cover…

Then you have the deeper things..

Deeper issues in a horses makeup…

When you get a horse and on the ‘surface’ everything checks out…

Then as you run it through its gears you find a little sore spot.. A little sticky spot..

A spot where…. everything could go sideways….

Now I am not claiming any great understanding here.. Most of my work to date with horses has been colt starting and ground handling. I am just now getting off my own feet and getting a better set of four…

Yet you can still uncover things from the ground that could realize themselves in the saddle..

And then because you found them on the ground, you can be safer in the saddle…

Take one horse I was working with…

On the ground the horse seemed ok.. Kinda quick, but ok.. Not too push, seemed to respond ok.. Until I went on the left side… Then if I moved to quickly on this side the horse fell apart… Meaning its head goes up, its feet goes back and it gets worried and starts to check out…

Now if I was riding that thing I would be working on left to get it solid.. More flag work, more slow work, more building the horses confidence and trying to find key to where everything broke down.. I don’t know what that key is but I know its there somewhere…

Then take the same horse.. That horse had a huge bulge on its neck..

Which means somewhere in its lifetime it was rode.. I mean rode.. Like some gal was a barrel fool and had an ass like glue and rode that horse… Rode it without asking the horse to think. Rode it without asking the horse to fill in for them...

The horse had plenty of go.. But I am sure it would get nervous, and try to get away from the bit and the owner felt they needed to “control” it and they tied it down…

That horse had no fill in.. It was a good horse, dont get me wrong.. But it was not a thinking horse.. It was not horse who would try to hold in there with you..

So there were a couple of things..

1. The horse showed physical signs of control
2. The horse had a touchy place on its left side in which it felt it needed to defend itself ( by moving away)
3. The horse had plenty of go but was nervous under saddle.. Ie waiting for the shoe to drop…

So if I was more experienced I could have pulled away more of the issues and tried to find the real problems, in order to help the horse..

In order to show the horse it did not need to defend itself, it did not need to feel it had to be on red alert all the time.. In order for it to gain trust in the human…

But at least I found something.. At least the horse let me uncover some golden nuggets… I was able to find the letter A in a jumble of letters. I was able to add that to a few more letters and spell a word.. The horse showed me that much with my meager set of tools…

Now I need to refine those tools, and make sentences out of the words I find…

My goal… is to someday make poetry.. but right now I am happy I know what language we are writing in!

HiHo!

LW

Naughty, Naughty, Human...

2011-06-30T10:55:00.000-07:00

Naughty, Naughty Horses…

There seems to be a few schools of thought when it comes to working with horses.

Here is mine :

We are the human, we are not the horse… Why the heck I would want the horse to think

“Hey look, here comes that human, oh I mean horse “

and why I would want that horse, to react around me like I was another horse baffles me..

Why do I want the horse challenging me, kicking me, or just plain ignoring me..

Heck thats what horses do to each other EVERYDAY!.. WATCH THEM!

Humans are supposed to be more intelligent then horses..

Cough

So why would I not try to help the horse. A horse is a smart animal. It can work out the difference.. It can learn.

So lets take a example…

I watch someone working with their horse and for whatever reason the horse reaches around and bites them..

So they, hit the horse, and maybe yell at it, and sometimes just for good measure they give the horse a kick…

From their perspective, the horse was being naughty and they needed to correct it. Needed to teach it a lesson, needed to show that horse who is boss.. Boss mare!

That’s what they see…

Here is what I see…

I see a horse that has a human problem…

I see a horse that before whatever happened, happened, that horse had given indication to the human that something was not right…

They flinched, the turned back an ear, they moved… Whatever..

The human never picked up on it…

So then the horse did what nature informed it to..

It reacted to the pain and it felt it needed to defend itself…

Lets say the horse bites when the human tries to cinch it up. (Most cases!) that’s because the human cinches to quickly and gakes the horse.. duh..

And maybe the human does not pick up on the fact that as you were cinching it, it put its ears back, maybe it flicked its tail, maybe its eyes got hard..

You never saw it.. You just keep doing what you were doing..

Then one day.. that darn horse has had enough, and it reaches around as your turning him into him into Mr. Peanut and it goes for a bite.. And you stop cinching, to smack it..

You just taught the horse your fair game..

Horse 1 - Human 0…

So now the horse is thinking, I need to bite faster..

Or maybe it turns into I need to move my feet while you are trying to saddle me..

Now you got bigger problems. Your chasing the horse around trying to smack it, and you know.. you never addressed the problem…

Respect the horse, and it will respect you.

Or they let it start by doing the wrong thing... Like oh letting a horse or colt nibble your pockets looking for a treat.. Why even let it start?

Now I am not talking about mouthy colts… Which my friends you have an option other then HITTING IT…

Why the hell do you want to be a bully?

All you have to do is position your elbow in nibble range and the darn horse will hit itself… and it will think, hey that did not work… and maybe it will try something else.. and guess what, it will hit itself again and it will say damn this human has lots of hard bits.. and it will stop… You don’t need to hit it…

You are smarter!

You don’t need to be a bully! You need to be an educator… you need to help the horse find the way… a way to softness and a place of peace and prosperity..

How do I know this works… How do I know I am right…

NONE OF MY HORSES BITE!

HiHo
LW

Just another day at the Ranch...

2011-06-27T15:58:00.001-07:00

You know I never said I was anything but a novice...

A Novice in the study of horsemanship, and a novice in the study of riding...

I honestly dont claim to have any great understanding of how horses operate, or even of how
they see the human..

I just like being around them...

Yet, even for saying that.... there are several things I know...

I know, no matter how soft you try to be with your horse, the horse is only going to remember the time you were the hardest...
That will be the softest they remember...

So if you think of it in this terms.. ie when you go to bridle your horse.. If 1 time out of 100, you bang that snaffle or whatever device of torture you use into their mouth, they will be less likely to give you a good deal.... because the horse will be thinking...

" You know buddy... you may just jab me... so why should I bother.. "

Yes... thats true...

So we have to work at it... We have to be aware of what the hell our hands and our legs are doing...

We have to be on the ball....

We gotta offer up the best deal we can, and always offer the best deal...

Otherwise the horse gets to thinking....

" You know, I am just going to hunker down here.. but you are inconstant, so I never know if I am going to get Jekyll or Hyde.. "

Can you blame em?

Hell in some people we don't even know that!!!

The other thing is we have to ride with confidence and with quality in mind..

Wanna be like Buck or Ray Hunt, or Tom Dorrance? Wanna be like that guy/gal you admire? Then ride like them..

Think.. hmm " What would Buck do?"....

Sometimes that is all it takes..

Regardless though, you have to make it interesting for the horse.. This is often something I fail at..

You gotta offer them a puzzle, let em work it out, look for the answer.. not force it on them..
Hell I can make a horse move.. but I want a horse to sort it out, look for the way out.. look for the softness.. go for my feel...

Yes.. hard.. but the end game.. everything...

Set it up so they can find it.. so they try to find it.. Know the feet, where the feet are.. know when they offer us something, reward the try...

Yes...

HiHo!
LW

You should be a Trainer!!!

2011-06-24T14:53:00.000-07:00

Why is it everyone I meet is a trainer?

I mean your dinking around with your horse, and Jack, Jan or Jill walk up to you and say..

"Hey, whatcha doing "

And you get to chatting and you find out that yes, while they have not rode awhile, being out of work and all, they are now thinking about or are currently have clients...

LOL. ...

It never ceases to amaze me..

I am a pretty sorry hand, so you know.. I mean, I see the prize, but trying to get to the prize.. my gosh...

I got my head down, I am thinking of trying to get down to the feet, getting down to a soft feel, trying to improve my timing,
trying to get to unity...

So I dink around, struggling in my little pond, trying to get something working, and here comes Jack....

Trainer Jack... !

Struting up, dragging his horse behind him....

Oh lord..

Brings to mind a scene from Cyarno..

Cyrano:
And what would you have me do?
Seek for the patronage of some great man,
And like a creeping vine on a tall tree
Crawl upward, where I cannot stand alone?

No thank you!

Dedicate, as others do,
Poems to pawnbrokers? Be a buffoon
In the vile hope of teasing out a smile
On some cold face?

No thank you!

Eat a toad for breakfast every morning? Make my knees
callous, and cultivate a supple spine,-
Wear out my belly grovelling in the dust?

No thank you!

Scratch the back of any swine
That roots up gold for me? Tickle the horns
of Mammon with my left hand, while my right
Too proud to know his partner's business
Takes in the fee?

No thank you!

Use the fire God gave me to burn incense all day long
Under the nose of wood and stone?

No thank you!

Shall I go leaping into ladies laps
And licking fingers?-or-to change form-
Navigating with madrigals for oars,
My sails full of the sighs of dowagers?

No thank you!

Publish verses at my own Expense?

No thank you!

Be the patron saint
Of a small group of leterary souls
Who dine together every Tuesday?

No thank you!

Shall I labor night and day
To build a reputation on one song,
And never write another?

Shall I find
True genius only among Geniuses,
Palpitate over little paragraphs,
And struggle to insinuate my name
In the columns of the Mercury?

No thank you!

Calculate, scheme, be afraid,
Love more to make a visit than a poem,
Seek introductions, favors, influences?-

No thank you!

No, I thank you!

And again
I thank you!-

But...

To sing, to laugh, to dream,
To walk in my own way and be alone,
Free, with an eye to see things as they are,

A voice that means manhood- to cock my hat
Where I choose- At a word, a Yes, a No,

To fight- or write. To travel any road
Under the sun, under the stars, nor doubt
If fame or fortune lie beyond the bourne-

ever to make a line I have not heard
In my own heart; yet, with all modesty

To say: "My soul, be satisfied with flowers,
With fruit, with weeds even; but gather them
In the one garden you may call your own."

So, when I win some triumph, by some chance,
Render no share to Caesar- in a word,

I am to proud to be a parasite,

And if my nature wants the germ that grows
Towering to heaven like the mountain pine,
Or like the oak, sheltering multitudes-
I stand, not high it may be-

But alone!

Le Bret:
Alone, yes! But why stand against the world?
What devil has possesed you now, to go
Everywhere making yourself enemies?

Cyrano:

Watching you other people making friends

Everywhere- as a dog makes friends!

I mark the manner of these canine courtesies

And think: "My friends are of a cleaner breed;

Here comes- Thank God! - another enemy!"

------

Where they heck do these people come from....

I

That horse was gonna burn me down!

2011-06-17T12:41:00.000-07:00

Its never nice to realize that a horse has 0 respect for the person..

Did you know, you can ride a horse, rope off a horse, even hug, pet and love on a horse and that horse will burn you down the first chance it gets...

funny o'critters...

The other day I was dinking around and I could tell there was a horse that had little respect for the person..

how do you tell this..

LOL

If you gotta ask...

But listen I will humor you..

The horse SHOVES you, moves you around, pushes you, invades you space... stomps on you, tries to kick you, rears up on you, and basically acts like an ass...

So then, in your infinite wisdom... You get on that damn thing...

Oh thats Smart.. Thats first rate....

Here is my recommendation... just get a gun, put one bullet it in and fire it at your head....

The gun may give you better odds...

So here I find myself, on the ground, holding my horse with another horse barreling for me....sans rider...

That horse is going pell mell to me.. and I say well I will just wave them off...

That horse... pinned his ears at me... and I knew when he was about 15 feet away that he was not going to stop..

In fact when he did pin his ears at me.. I knew he had every plan to run me down....

So I moved out of his way...

Then he turned against the fence and I knew he planned to kick me.. I saw that shaping up.. and I knew that horse was not going to respond to me... so what can I do..

I kicked the horse! LOL

When that sucker came up to me, I reached out and kicked it.. the damn thing spun on, kicked out and then went pell mell down the arena....

Hooka and a Hackmore!

2011-06-12T16:32:00.000-07:00

Ok,...

So no Hookas, but how about a Phooka!

Got out to Kristi's today to ride the big Boo.. With treats in hand I called him out in the paddock and this time instead of me treking out there he came up.. Yeah!..

Got him out in the arena and we dinked around a bit and then I put the hackmore on.

He actually did pretty good!

I got a stop, I get the front and the hind though I do have to admit he is pretty lop-sided.

Great on the right side, flunky on the left. Ok so we can go back into the snaffle and fix that up and try again in the hackmore.

its not an all or nothing game.

We cantered around a bit, but he does not have the engine Emma has, but its still fun.!

Then we worked on our roping. Gah what is it... but when I rope from the ground I seem to be using different muscles then when I rope from horseback.

Either my form is wrong, or roping from horseback isolates certain groups of muscles because you dont have your hips and legs to balance and work with, or at least I think thats it.

I have tried to set up my roping practice like basketball practice!.. LoL

you know when you practice making the hoops you stand around the court and take your shots at different positions. The same should be done for roping the dummy.. Then when you get a good shot, stop, and go on to the next position.

You really find out where your holes are in that way.

Hi Ho!

LW

Everything is great... so something is wrong!

2011-06-08T09:08:00.000-07:00

Ever have it...

You know your riding your horse... going through all the motions, and you know, everything seems to be working....

Which indicates something must be wrong... right?

Enjoy the prosperity.

Hi Ho

LW

I dropped my hat... somewhere...

2011-05-31T10:47:00.000-07:00

Somewhere between here and there we lose or gain, confidence.

Confidence in our riding, confidence in ourselves.

No place does this come into crystal clear focus then when riding your horse in a situation where you don’t feel in control.

If your horse starts to get nervous…

ie : He is sure that the tree, log, rock or whatever is going to hurt him, and he starts to make plans to check out, and at the same time, you pick up on the horse and you start to remember falling on your ass and getting hoof tracks on your back, you are probably not in the best place to support your horse.

Just get off..

Take a deep breath, pass whatever it is that got your horse going, do some quick ground work to get your horse thinking about something else, then get back on.

Best advice I have ever received.

Then there are times when we get ahead of ourselves.. We think..

“Hell, as long as I don’t ride into the lions den, I am ok”….

Well if you are a good enough hand, I am sure you will be..

I am not.

Though, I will ride within a 100 yards of the lions den. J

Or, I will lock the lions den, so I am sure no lions will get out, then I will ride up to the lions den and keep my horse busy as I do…

Case in point..

Marshal was being a little bucky boy as we worked on the canter transitions..

So fine.

I go the small arena, I lock the arena gate, I check my cinch, I get on, and get a good grip on my saddle and I say…

“YAH!”

Well he was like, sure ok, I will canter.. and then I will throw in the after burners..

Fine.. knock yourself out, but you will canter..

And continue to canter, until you listen back and get off my hands..

Ahh….

It worked..

He is great and I survived..

But I did not try that down in the jumping arena… I picked my lions den..

Set my little guy up for success.. And you know, he does not know the difference..

To him, it’s the same…

Build his confidence and at the same time, build mine.

Wow, You got such a calm horse...

2011-05-19T11:17:00.000-07:00

Yeah?

You wanna get your ass up here and check this rig out?

How amazing people are....

I dont know how many times people come up to me and comment on my little Blackie, about how sweet and calm he is...

Yes... but there is alot going on they dont see..

They didnt see the time I spent saddling him up, how I worked with him to start to get him focused on me...

They didint see me shaping things up as we walked out of the barn.. they didnt see me keeping him focused on me, making it important to him where he put his feet..

They didnt see me do the ground work, get his hind, get my hands down to the feet...

They didnt see the time I spent making sure he was set up for mounting... they only see me now..

But they didnt see the magic..... They just saw the rabbit...

But the rabbit has a mind of his own.. The rabbit needs to be kept between my legs and hands..

The rabbit is wild... but they dont see it...

Oh well...

Art for Arts sake!

HiHo!

2011-05-18T14:56:00.001-07:00

Back in the Saddle ☺

Its been a couple weeks since the Buck Clinic and last weekend we headed over the Californios Roping competition.

After I had time to let things settle with my weekend with Emma I realized a couple things.

1. Must lose more weight…

so back to “that” diet thing again. Really the goal is to lose 30 more lbs. That would bring my grand total to almost 70lbs which is about the weight of my saddle and gear. That also gets me under the required 200lb limit for most ranches to ride their horses.

2. I must ride more.

I had thought that getting out to ride 1 or 2x a week was good but no way. Not to get to the point where I feel solid. I need at least 4 days out of the week in the saddle. Which of course is hard with school, but one of the places I board my horses does have a lighted arena… ☺

3. I must focus more.

Sounds basic, but it takes a little more effort.. I need to figure out where the damn feet are.. I need to remember to get my leg out of the way, shift my weight properly, place the reins in the right place when I ask for certain maneuvers, basically get my act together in a rhythm that is good for me and the horse…

4. I must practice roping more.

Yes I have been practicing but I need to practice on my horse not just on the ground. I need to get my horses more used to the maneuvers required from a roping perspective.

So yes it has been an interesting 3 weeks. 1 week auditing a clinic in Stoneyford, the other week riding it one in Chico, and the third watching the roping competition in Reno….

So what am I doing now?

Well tonight after work I am going to ride my little Blackie, then this weekend it looks like I made arrangements with Kristi to move Phooka to her ranch so I can attend the roping practice down in Salinas. Poor Boo! My big ranch horse. Seems everyone has been riding him but me. Marshal will continue with me at Garrods and Emma is still getting her education with Bonnie down at Rodoni. I am not sure Marshal has the moxy to do roping, though I will practice on him. Emma right now is my secret hope. She is strong, fiery and quick. We will just have to see how she does around cattle…

What are my key take aways so far?

“If you want to get better at a thing, you have to dedicate yourself to it. “

Some people thing that dedicating themselves is reading, or writing or watching, but to me its doing. I have to be doing it, learning it, getting my hands in it. I have to be working at whenever I have spare time to be good at it. It is not my goal to be the best rider, or the best horseman.. though if reap some rewards on that pathway that’s fine. Right now my goal is to work in a partnership with my horses that develops my skill and develops them. So that we can do a job together in a professional and efficient manner.

So people watching us from the outside wonder why its such a big deal because it looks so effortless…

Yeah baby!

HiHo!

ps. always wear your helmet!

LW

Buck Clinic Day 3 - Orland 05/09/11

2011-05-08T22:17:00.001-07:00

Day 3

Well it seems I made it to day 3. Though I have to admit I have not broken my streak yet, and have managed to fall off yet again in a clinic. Now its 3 times in row. Oh well. You try to learn.

Emma was getting troubled so I started to move her around to get her mind working instead of worrying about what was going on with whatever was bothering her. Well I don’t know what happened but suddenly she was sideways and well I was trying to hang on but finally gave up and just landed with a thud on the ground.

Oh well.. Get back on and try again.

I was sequestered by Buck to the childerns side of the arena to do work on my serpentines until I could join the group again…

Oh well I wanted to work with my horse and well we worked.

She was trying to offer up a soft feel now and then and I was trying to notice and get out of my own way to feel her… If she could reach for me, then I could reach for her.

It was working.. By the end of the deal I was able to ride around on a slack rein and work a little with her on my leg. She made me pretty proud.

What did I take away from this clinic. What was it that I was trying to learn.

I was trying to learn how to get down to my horses feet, trying to learn how to get a change with out forcing it. I was learning about how to sense when the horse was no longer escaping and actually working to a soft feel …

I was working to learn about how to work with horses. To get more in tune with the partnership.

Move them into a soft feel at the walk, think about how they would actually do a job doing the stuff you want them to do…

Think about what you can to get your horse centered with you, working with you… reaching for you….

LW

Buck Clinic Day 2 - Orland 05/09/11

2011-05-07T22:16:00.000-07:00

Always surprised. Horses always surprise me.

Learning’s today in day 2 of Bucks Clinic…

Who knows.

!!

I was so busy, keeping my horse busy I think I missed most of it… Perhaps that was the golden nugget.
Perhaps that was what I was supposed to take away..

1. Keep your horse focused.
2. Keep them out of trouble.
3. Keep heading to the softness.
4. Softness sometimes comes from hardness
You never know!

There were plenty of opportunities for me to be a lawn dart. But I never got caught with my reins to short. Never got caught with my feet out of the stirrups..

Kept her busy.. Kept things working…

What did I walk away with…

1. Get to the feet..
2. Always offer the best deal, the do what you need to do.
3. Keep them focused, let them be until they need to focused again
4. Stay centered, stay balanced, So your horse can be balanced.
5. Be aware of your surroundings.
6. Think things through before you get your horse in over its head

Off to day 3!

Sometimes, they can be so cute...

2011-04-19T15:03:00.000-07:00

You know, sometimes horses.. can be so damn cute...

I mean they snuggle up to you, nicker at you and basically melt your heart and you forget....

You forget getting bucked off, ran over, foot stomped, bit or some other painful, annoying horse habit....

Yes sometimes horses are just damn cute.... for a minute...

Silly little rabbit....

2011-04-18T11:26:00.000-07:00

Sure, Sure...

I admit it...

I dont always have the right head set...

No not the damn horse...

Myself...

Riding Marshal around the barn the other day, he was stop, snort, stop snort...gahh!

I was frustrated...

Then I talked to my trainer, Bonnie...

Maybe I needed to re-check..

Maybe I needed to give my horse a break...

Maybe I needed to TAKE IT FROM THE HORSES PERSPECTIVE!

mutter * grumble * poop

Yes.. He was stopping because he was unsure.. He was stopping because he saw something that made him uneasy..
And guess what Kiddies,

HE DOES NOT SEE ME as well KNOWING THIS ARE SAFE...

So what do I gain in forcing him...
What do I gain in whipping him to go, or spurring him...

He still will think its spooky, and now he associates pain and frustration with it... and guess what..

I AM THE LOSER here..

duh...

So "She" says..

Give him a minute..

Let him think, yeah I wanted to stop..

Yes I like to stop here..

heck its a good time to read my iPhone...

Lets stop, smell the roses.. and then when I ask to go, if you dont go, then lets just piddle with your feet a bit...
Move the hind, move the front... get a step, then stop...

Ahh.. progress..

But then I noticed, oh he was nervous about that post, that drain, that road bit.. He started to show me what he was upset about...

Ahh...

ok...

Some things are never what they first appear to be...

Hi Ho!

LW

What the hell happened?

2011-04-13T16:17:00.000-07:00

It seemed everything was fine... It seemed everything was going ok... then it started to shape up, it started to get worse...
I noticed it on the ground... you know he would get sticky...
sticky in his walk.. He would stop... be a little stubborn...

then i wondered, well maybe he is spooky and needs a minute...

I didnt want to get into a pull fest.

Didnt want him pushing against me...

Wanted his feet to free up...

Then I noticed it was in the saddle..

5 steps forward... then stop....

same as the ground...

then he started getting spooky...

WTF?

Now what do I do.....

1. At least I am aware of it...
2. I need his feet to move...
3. I need life to be in him..

So I think the best thing I can do is :

1. On the ground get his feet unstuck...
2. When riding, if he starts to slow up, I need to really encourage him forward...

So friends.. You need to notice this before it becomes a problem.. Notice it before it becomes an issue..

Now I have something that developed I have to work out... Something I should have seen before it became an issue.
He is doing well, but testing? Testing me? Not sure...

Hi Ho!
LW

I survived.......

2011-04-11T11:57:00.001-07:00

I survived...

I am not sure how it happened, but it happened....

Saturday my trainer says ok, lets go for a trail ride with Emma...Last time when she had Marshal, I got to ride Lotus and she rode Marshal so I could see how he was...

So I figured I was going to get a nice trail ride...

Hmmmmm

Thats not what happened.

1. I know Emma is Spooky

2. I know Emma has not been ridden out on the trail

3. I know the trail is spooky, and very hilly and well a bit crazy.. it is not trail 101.

So I ask, are we going to do the little loop or the big loop...

Of course, she says the BIG LOOP...

cough...

Can I write my last will now.....

I said,

" Hey Bonnie... "

" you know I am not a bronc rider..."

She says, oh you'll be fine...

"uhhu"

I am tired, I am grumpy, I had a long week... I am exhausted and now I have to get on Emma and go into Wilder?

Are you friggen nutz...

But I pulled on my big girl pants.. and say what the heck... I can always get off...

So I get on... she is loose like a long necked goose and we head down into the park with Lotus in the lead...

Dear God...

Please remember I have always tried to be good....

Please let my Dad and Mac know I Love them...

*sigh*

Well Emma is one big SNORT.. .I mean I don't think she stopped snorting...

We ran into hikers, bicyclists, joggers and a couple of coyotes and a road sign that was surely a horse eater...

We managed steep hills, boggy marshes, slippery rocks, single track trails, mountain lion holding gullys, and WINDY WINDY trees and hills.

That was just the first half of it...

The second half of it was riding past the Santa Cruz Dump.... *sigh*

Plastic bags, huge winds, big trees shaking and flapping... and a long stretch of steep down hill that is slippery and difficult...

Uh.. gawd..

I was tired...

Emma was a champ..

There were several points where she wanted to be in the lead.. which was great and I gave her the reins and let her go.. There were only a couple of spots where she startled... but Lotus helped her along... She didnt bolt, she didnt jump or buck... She cantered out a couple times when she got nervous, and she charged a bit up and down hill.. but overall she was trying to listen...

And I survived...

What Horsemanship means to me...

2011-04-08T10:20:00.000-07:00

Yes...

I know you have been waiting in the aisles for this....

Horsemanship...
No Horse - Man _ Ship

or how about Handy Horses, Horse Sense, Horse Handling, Horse N Ship
Man and Horse, Round About Horse, Whatever.....

Its all the same.

Can you, in partnership, ride your horse....

Now you have types..

The Horse Nurse...

yes we all know this one... Its the lady, man or gent that has a horse and for some darn reason they never seem able to ride it...
You know the one... Oh Pooky is lame today, Pooky has a tummy ache, Pooky has a sore on his back, Pooky is a little gimpy...

The horse nurse... you know....

The Horse Collector

You know this one... The individual who has, alot of horses... but never seems to find time to ride said horses. Or has horses that for whatever reason, can not be ridden. I think this can also be a merge between the crazy cat lady, and the horse nurse....

Please...

The Know it All

Oh right.... sorry I didnt know that... mind getting up on your horse and showing me? oh no?

this is the armchair horseman. The one who sits on his or her lawn chair and dictates to you from afar on how you need to improve... though you can never re-collect when you ever saw them on their horses....

The Equipment User

You know this one when you see it. Its the person out in the arena with every contraption known to man attach to their horses. The tie down, the curb strap with spikes, the metal noseband, the martingale, the lunge reins, the emergency stop reins, the other set of reins and the butt rein, the this and the that....The horse is moving in a circle, amazing.... And then they wonder why their horse wind sucks, weaves and flips over....

The Maddy

Every barn has one... Its the person who is always pissed, at their horse...
Not sure why this happens but they are yelling at it, slapping it, kicking it, hitting it with a rake, a lunge whip, a rein basically anything they can get their hands on...This is the person that backs their horse up the entire length of the barn thinking it helps them. This is the person that says their horse is lazy, stupid or whatever, even though the horse is doing everything that it can to get out of this persons way... This my friends is the one that I will not tolerate....

The Rider

This is the guy or gal who for whatever reason can ride like no ones business... They understand the mechanics and can ride like the devil. We appreciate them, we want to be like them... but on the ground, or understanding how a horse mind works... they fall short... Without support or a trainer their horses develop problems. Wont stand when they mount, wont bridle, has temper tantrums... you know the kind....

The Horse Handler

Poor devil.. This guy or gal can handle a horse on the ground, but can not seem to translate it into the saddle. Fear, inexperience or just laziness prevent them from reaching Rider status.

Though they understand the horses mind and how to get down to the feet they lack the saddle time or drive to translate that into a complete package.

The Horseman

I like to think of this as the level that we want to achieve. We want to be good riders, work with the horse through our body into the mind and down to the feet. We want to develop a relationship with our horses and to strive for achievement and accomplishment. We want to get better... This individual is the start of a larger process. This for me kiddies is my goal.

Someone who can ride all gears of their horses and feel confident. Someone who can help thier horse get better. Maybe they still work with a trainer, maybe they themselves are still learning. Yet like our expectation for our horses they are trying... searching for the answer!

Hi Ho!

Why, oh Why, Didn't I take the blue pill?

2011-04-04T16:28:00.001-07:00

You know, its funny... I mean not in that Ha-Ha Kinda way, but more in that... oh my gawd I shudda seen that coming sort of way...

Its one of those things that we learn in an evolutionary manner... vs a more "Ahha!" manner.

Working with horses teaches you that for certain..

It teaches you, without a doubt about the $100 bet....

you know.. the $100 bet....

hmmm

I can see you scratching your head....

Let me go into detail to what the $100 bet is.....

Its that bet.. you make with yourself... its the bet that you say hey....

If I get on this horse today.... am I willing to bet $100 that everything will work out ok...

If I try to get this horse to cross that bridge with the two T-posts on either side, that if I bet $100 neither of us will get impaled...

If I try to canter today with that horse running loose in the field next to us, that I bet $100 my guy wont lose it....

Its the litmus check we use to make sure we
1. Dont set up our horses to fail
2. Dont set up ourselves to dust the dirt from our asses
3. Keep the ride and what we are aiming for successful.

That lesson... learning the $100 bet pays off...

It pays off because we stay on the right side of trouble...

It forces us to take collection of what is going on with our horses maybe a bit further then we would have...

It teaches us the meaning of respect... Respect for our horses and how much respect they have for us...

So next time your dinking around... and you think

" Ah I think I will try this thing... "

before you do, ask yourself...

"Would I bet myself $100 bucks I can do xyz and it will be successful?"

if the answer is no, go back to the basics and make sure you think it will work... then try it...

Otherwise... you may be paying out more then just $100 bucks... :)

HiHo!

LW

Where is the Whohaaa!

2011-02-13T15:19:00.001-08:00

Coming down hills is never easy for a young colt. I get it!! Yes they have to learn how to balance, they have to learn how to get the hind under them instead of charging down and then if it is raining they have to learn how to deal with the slippery slope... Horses I find dont like the sensation of sliding... bad..

Ok I get it...

I know with Phooka it took awhile. He learned how to charge down the hill, hell his pasture is a hill.. One huge hill!...

So when I got up on him to ride, what was his first instinct... It was to CHARGE... well I have to tell you this is a unsettling experience when your riding...VERY...

It takes awhile. Its a baby step at a time, but I know its worth it.. especially considering some of the hills we have to go down out here!!... Can you say boulders.. I mean literally you are going down hill across granite boulders... Ok at that point. you better know your horse... Really know em!

Lots of trust this little human is putting into that walnut brain... but you know that walnut brain can hold alot of information...

Hell look at how much data a flash drive can carry...

So you get them feeling back, getting them to give you that soft feel before you start down... get them listening... hearing you... then you start and you bump em when they pick up are fall forward.. but you gotta help, you cant sit there like a sack of potatoes.. You gotta shift your weight back to help them get to the hind...

The next item is leg...

OMG... how much a little makes a difference. To be able to steer your horse form your calf is wonderful... this is a new thing for me as I come from the sloppy cowboy school where the leg hangs there and the reins do all the work...

but what if you could build in sensitivity in your horse so that they could move off your calf... well then its only a matter of time before they move off your seat...
hmmm

but sisters and brothers that takes work...

lots of it...

lots of worrying about where those feet are... being particular about each step...

I know there is a clinic coming up with Buck .. I know last time he asked a group of the students to all line up.. then he ask them ok you yonkers.. ( not sure what the hell a yonker is?!) ride to me, doing a serpentine without your reins...

You wanna know how many out of 20 students could do that.....

You wanna know how jealous I was of the 1.... LOL.... green baby green!!

So much to do...

HiHo!
LW

Back in the Saddle

2011-01-31T11:08:00.000-08:00

Ok the days are getting longer. Not dark at 5pm! yeah.

back to trying to get on a regular riding schedule. My horses are scattered all over right now.
Seems everyone gets to play with my toys except me!

Phooka is up at the house with his buddy Jack.. Waiting, Waiting to get him 1 month refresher with Bonnie.

Marshal is rounding out his last month of full training and is an awesome champ. Course he took me through the helmlock stems last weekend, but we rounded out pretty good. Funny how the damn horses can have nose to tail but still head off in a straight line...

Duh forgot about the hind... again..

Silly Rabbit

lesson learned of course is that in order to be a good rider, in order to give you horse as the best chance you can, you have to ride, often and be in practice... Otherwise the reins are around your neck, your feet are out of the stirrups and your wondering what the hell happened....

hi ho!
LW

Cougar Snack Ranch

2011-01-11T09:01:00.000-08:00

Ahh another interesting week at Cougar Snack Ranch... oh did I mention all my goats have been nibbled up by the Mama Cougar and her cubs.... ahh... well I take that back, she got the Lions Share (80%) and the death caps got the other 20%,,,,,

Well Now I have to wait until I get more goats, which regardless are needed nibblers on my property until I can secure them at night in a cougar paw secure enclosure. Prior I had them all run amuk on my property, now... since goats can get expensive, even free ones they need to be secured at cougar prime time.... *sigh*

Now the other thing I faced was this...

Yes thats right kiddies ripped out hoof wall... Ahh the joy, the cost and the agony of no riding and stall rest....

Seems Phooka is not the mountain goat he thought he was and his Mama was not keeping up on his trims..." Come on its super muddy out there... what could happen...

Well kiddies this can happen.

A rip in the hoof wall results in a nice exposure of the structure beneath... Lovely from a student perspective, lousy from a riding perspective....

Well here is what you do.. First cut off the hangnail... try not to get kicked... Scrub that sucker with iodine solution, try not to get kicked... Gauze it and wrap it and call the vet...

Considerations are infection... AVOIDE IT AT ALL COSTS....

Wait 5-6 months...

Ride...

Crapola...

For the want of a nail.....

Lesson ::: keep up on trimming even when your ponies are in pasture... you never know....

Of course just trimming may have not prevented it, but at least I could have said.. well he was trimmed...

Especially on draft horses because there is so much area to skew on the hoof.. 2 years ago Phooka had a sheared frog due to the same problem... to much horse, to wide a hoof and uneven ground....

Hi Ho!

LW

Where the heck did I go wrong?

2011-01-09T09:36:00.000-08:00

Sometimes we get a little ahead of ourselves. Sometimes we think we know it all. Sometimes we think, hey I just want to do one more thing....

It is when we attempt that, or when we push it beyond that either

1. We get bucked off
2. When we get on the next day, it is like the horse never learned anything from the day before
3. We un-can a bunch a worms and dont have any time to put them back.

Thats what happened to me yesterday.

Sure the ride was good. I was out of practice and shape so my feel was not as good as it should have been. Yet in my enthusium to ride, after my trainer told me it was time to put it away for the day.. what did I do...

I want to canter more.. so off I go cantering around the ring... Well I had to peddle him a bit so now my trainer is directing me to use the mecate to keep him going instead of my legs and well she got the stink eye on me..

I am like hey I just wanted to tear around a bit....

Well, my friends that is not part of the program...

The program before I decieded to go off on a tear was working on the back up and the canter trot transitions. We had got to a good place and the horse was ready to soak on it... yet what did I do.. I push another lesson in there and now when the horse soaks it unsure on where he is soaking...

Not to mention I added a new dimension to the end of the lesson which was the canter....

Yes my friends sometimes we need to know when to stop...

Well I got a good talking too from my trainer.... and in my happiness to ride I forgot all the basics...

Well it happens...

Hi Ho!

LW

Its the New Year

2011-01-06T12:16:00.000-08:00

So getting started for the new year one thing always comes to mind.
My GEAR IS FULL OF CRAP! Just 2 months and the mice, moss and other stuff is just over everything
Not to mention that over the last 2 months I have to remember how to handle all this gear again!
Gah...

How do I rope again!

By the way Buck is coming to Chico in May!!! Oh YEAH Rope Em BaayBE!

What the hell?

2010-10-12T13:44:00.000-07:00

Yes, I have been missing... heh for awhile
Bascially I had a set of life changing events that caused a re-shuffle of my daily routine...
LOL it got really shuffled!

So far I moved some horses around, put one in full time training and am now working from 8-6 oh about everyday!

Hopefully we will see some rays of sunshine soon on the personal life side!

So today to share I wanted to highlight some of the losers I run across on my daily commute.
The really sore spots of my day.. The creeps, the losers who make my morning miserable.

Key take away, pull the heck over... If someone in a sports car is riding your ass, pull over..
Simple...
Dont be a dick!

So below, are the two dicks that ruined my commute...
Both had other cars in front of them that pulled over, but would they NOOOOOO
They drove like morons all the way down bear creek road with a little blue car stuck to thier asses like a tick to a mule...
Idoits

Back to second grade..

2010-08-25T10:01:00.001-07:00

Sometimes our ego’s take a beating. Its not hard, I mean, it happens. We think we got all this great stuff working for us, our horses like us, they pretty much keep it together when we ask for stuff and for the most part all the good work in them is from us.
We are the horse handlers.. we got it going on…

Then you watch someone who has YEARS.. I mean years of experience, and they see, feel and get in tune with a 1000 different things that we just didn’t put together…

And we think.. Damn….

Damn Damn Damn

And I thought I had it going on…. I thought I was the friggen master…

No… Not for another 30 years…

LOL!

Working the other day with my colt I understand the basics… I am getting it now..
Understanding that you need to have things built in.. Need to know they are going to work, need to know that no matter what, you will get it..

Then, well then, you can press it, then you can drive it.. then you can ride it..
Because you know the basics are there…

The leg, the rein, the seat… Its all working, at least on the important things…
Then you can fill in the gaps.. Then you can drive the engine…

Then you can burn it…

Hi Ho!
LW!

Did I say I could ride?

2010-08-16T12:45:00.001-07:00

Ride it like you stole it, ride it like you stole it….

Gah, I wish, IWISH! I could get that through my thick head…

I remember at a clinic a young woman was riding and her horse and for some reason it took off on her, full out gallop, tearing around the other students, and the girl, you could tell stopped riding… She started to look like a pole stuck up on that horses back.. Now, she was basically just looking for a place to fall off…

Then Buck yelled… “ Get to riding that thing! What’s a matter you never rode a gallop’n horse before?!!!”

Once he said that, she started riding, the horse calmed down and it was over… With a class of students licking and chew’n!

Its something I try to remember… Instead of looking for a place to get bucked off, look for a place to ride too….

Erggah….

Instead of trying to hold the horse in, let em go… They soon enough realize that all that work running around is kinda crazy… You never asked for it….

Yes…. Silly Rabbit… Tricks are for kids…

Then there is the other side of the coin… Less draggin and more doing… Less pulling around and more thinking about where you are gong to go…

I am learning that… trying to get the horse thinking… less anticipation and more effort…
I know I am working with Marshal on that… Less chunky monkey… More putting your heart into it, more try and better reward.. Softer, lighter… moving with feel… with timing…

Light years away…

Hi Ho!
LW

You work with a Trainer?!?!?

2010-08-05T10:19:00.000-07:00

You work with a Trainer?!?!?

Ahahaaaa And you think your some hotshot horse handler... Hahahahaha

Sure, go ahead and laugh. I can take it.

I am trying to get better, trying to learn.. Living it.

I can take it because I realize there are limits to what I can do. Limits in my experience level, limits in my riding expertise, limits in my own self confidence.

Take for example the other day…

My trainer comes out and she has been working with Marshal and me boning us up for the big trail ride. So far we have worked in the spooky back woods and he is getting better… He is jumpy, but he is better.

So she says well she would like to continue working on that. Yet I say, you know Bonnie, I been working with Emma, ( riding her at the walk and trot, getting her good to bridle ), but you know, I have not yet asked her for the canter yet.

The reason is that I don’t think she has ever moved off on the canter on her own, and the last time I saw her really cantering around was when the saddle was turned under her belly and the reins were skewed down with it and she was running pell mell through a clinic full of students, sans rider…

I said, you know, I would feel better, if when I asked her for the canter you were here to walk through it with me.

Well Bonnie, being the good sort of trainer she is, said ok. First thing that happen is I tie her out to the tie rack and get ready to get her saddled. Bonnie says well saddle her there, and I say you know I think the she has been tramatized at the tie rack. Bonnie says show her, so I get the blanket, go to put it on her back and she starts to pull back and clench up.

I say, but watch this.

So I untie her, and then put the blanket on her, and she stands like a perfect lady…

It’s the difference my friends between forcing a horse, and having a horse think…
This horse was FORCED to wear a saddle while tied out, she never got to thinking it was ok… she just fears it… Now I got to work backwards, now I got to untie that knot that was tied in her.. and I will tell you that is harder then making it in the first place.

Bonnie just grins.

So I get her saddled up and take her in the round pen, and mount up. She is pretty much a perfect lady about it all. Then I say Bonnie watch this..
So I start making sucking, clucking, farting, smooching noises, and Emma freezes up like the sky is falling…

Yeah.. there is a little earthquake there waiting for a place to happen.

So I start to move her out, trotting and she is having a hard time staying on the outside of the round pen. Her movements are jerky.

When I ask for the canter, she freezes up… trots faster.. but does not move out to the canter…

I had the same problem with Komet… He froze up at the trot canter transition.
Now with Emma I know I have the added baggage of the saddle slipping. If she feels that movement ( I get off center ) that could trigger her to lose her little red headed mind.

So I am kicking and doing all I can to get the transition. Then suddenly POW! She grabs her ass and goes a few steps at the canter and then starts to buck…

Oh I love bucking horses.. You know I just want to ride bucking horses all the time…. How I dream of bucking horses…

Someday I will get a dead broke horse and I will ride every inch of hair off that horse…

Well I survive, no issues, but Bonnie says, yup… there is an issue there…

Ok.. So we work on a few things and then I get back on..

Oh I love that too.. You survive a riding experience. I mean you heard the bullet go zipping by your head.. and then they say, oh, ok get back on… I mean how stupid are we really?!

Note to readers. Just save your money and buy a fully trained horse… You can live training colts vicariously through me..

So I get back on, and we get the transition. Its not pretty, I mean it’s a full out gallop, but we get it both ways…

But I will tell you, in your tummy you feel it, it is an icy cold… You feel that you are getting on a 1200 lb animal, that can stomp, buck you to the emergency room and you say to yourself… I can do this… I can ride this thing… I can overcome my fear, I can be better… I can do better…I can do it for myself…

I can do it for the horse… Because you know, the only way your horses get better, is by you, by you getting better… by you pushing your envelope and trying…

Inch by painful inch…

Sure its Little, but....

2010-07-30T09:12:00.000-07:00

Ponies…

I think Ponies are the most misunderstood equine on the planet… LOL I have only worked with them for about a total of 8 hours now, but that is my general impression!

First, they are small.. so people figure, great for kids. Second they look like big dogs, so if it looks like a dog it must be a dog, right?
Third kids are punks, and ponys are punks… so .. figure what will happen.

How may adults do you know, that have had this story..

“Do you ride anymore?”
“Oh no, I had a bad experience on a PONY once..”
“really?”
“Yeah” mutter shuffle, burp.
“What happened?”
“Oh I was at my grandmothers/fathers/Dad/Uncles/Aunts/Whatever place and they put me on a pony, someone slapped it on its rump and the next thing I know I was in the hospital/blackberry bush, knock out by a tree branch, it danced on my head.. “

Ok… Pony.. I get it..

Lastly, since ponies are smaller then horses ( or Phooka) it is easier to shove a bit in its mouth, man handle it a bit to put a saddle on it, and pull it from its feet. They can get feisty, but usually they just stop thinking and force you to force it…

Hmmm.. Not where I am coming from.

So yesterday Julie says, ok lets grab you a pony.. Now Julie has a A LOT Of ponies

You can see her place at http://www.whisperponies.com/index.html

So my first lesson with her, she showed me how to hook up the cart to a dead broke pony and drive around.. OK that’s cool, but you know I like to get a handle on the horse.. So I say, next time, since you have so many, lets get one out and start working with it so I can learn what you need to do in order to get a pony ready for the cart.

Enter Holly. Holly is a 7-8 year old, used to be broodmare ( lost a foal) and now has sat around for awhile. Holly leads great, but softness is not there, feel is not there, respect… she is a pony come on!

So first we start to lead her down to the big bard to get her tacked up and I think, well she just came out of the box, let me mess with her a bit in the arena…Ok, well that revealed some sticky spots and the fact that she does not respond well to the pressure off the lead rope.

So I then take her down to the barn put her in the cross ties and get the surgingel ( whatever!) and go to put it on her. Well she grabs her ass a little at the noise of it…

Hmm..

“Julie” … now remember this is only my second time meeting her and going up to her place…

“Yeah?”

“Do you mind if I take this gear and go up to the arena and mess around with her a bit?”

She looks at me quizzically… like am I loon, and then says “ok”

So I take the little bridle ( too cute) and the little surcingle and ( spell check has no idea what I am trying to say!), and go up to the arena.. I grab my flag and my rope ( yes tools of the trade my friends) and figure I will start at step 1, and work my way through..

POOR PONY!!!!!

Gah she was sweating, licking her lips, just sure that it was hell on earth… Yet as I explained to Julie, if you have a little kid, going to bridle her, or ride her, you want the basics in there, just like she was a big horse. She should take the bit and lower her head ( just like she was a big horse ), she should respond to pressure, she should be able to do a 1 rein stop. She should not be grabbing her ass..

I worked with her for about 2 hours, then since this is Aptos it got cold… Basically, the nut is this.. With ponies, not so much with horses, you can MAKE them do things. I could have SHOVED the bit into the ponies mouth, I could have spun her OFF her feet, I could have physically FORCED her to do what I wanted. No problem..

But kiddies, that’s not the goal. I want the horse thinking, I want it licking and chewing.. I want it to see me, to feel of me, in order for it to move.. I want to do less,

I want people scratching their heads wondering how I got the horse to do that, because I didn’t move a muscle…

The horse knew though… 

Ponies are no different in that regard, no different in how they learn, but often I think people abuse that softness… since they look like a dog, right?

HiHo!
LZO!

Why I Love My Trainer

2010-07-28T09:02:00.000-07:00

Why I love my trainer.

As you may or may not know my trainer has been working with my colt and I on riding in the back woods. Now our back woods are scary, thick, lots of low hanging branches, deer, bums, other horses and a variety of scary things. Just the worst woods to start riding in. My colt is a FREAK back there, rearing, bucking just generally have a temper tantrum from hell.

The other day my trainer goes, ok.. lets go ride in the back woods…
I am like “WTF?” are you crazy?

Well we did it, and he didn’t buck me off, though he did get an "A" for effort in the attempt.

Well now I got Emma.. Scary, freaky red head.

So my trainer says yesterday, lets get Emma and pony here behind Marshal…
‘Uh.. , Ok” says I… gah I am such a dweeb.

All Emma wants to do is kick Marshals brains in.

So she gets Emma and we work in the round pen a bit. Now the issue with pony’ing a horse is this… it forces you to ride with one hand… Suddenly you realize how much steerage you have… I had oh about 40%.

Then you get the added weight of “ don’t let the rope go under the lead horses tail.. which could be bad, and don’t let the ponied horse go in front of the lead horse.. which you know, could be bad…

Now its not that I have not ponied before, but I had not ponied off of Marshal and I had not ponied Emma and I am riding Marshal my little son of buck…

Well it went pretty good in the round pen and then my trainer says..

“OK lets go out in the back trails.. “
‘the what?”
“trails, now, you go.”

I thought at that very moment I was going to throw up right then and there..

But I didn’t. and we did go on the back trails and both horses were good… I survived, they survived and we are one step closer to building a solid foundation…

But I will say this..You want to test the cohonies on someone, put them on a colt, who you knows bucks, and hand them a filly who is a kicker and a freak, and tell them to pony that freaky horse on that son of buck in the woods from Sleepy Hollow…. And if you can do that, baby, you can do anything…

Which I think was the lesson my trainer was trying to get across to me…

Can your horse play chess?

2010-07-26T11:25:00.000-07:00

So what is up with people? What part of it don’t they get. The other day I am working with my horses, minding my own business when Twiddle comes by and says..
“oh this damn horse got away from me down at the river”
“uhhu” I say.
“yeah” she goes on “This is the second time she got away from me”
“uhhu” I say.
“ I am trying to sell her and a lady wants to come out and rider her on the trail so I thought I would walk her back there and see how she is”
“uhhu” I say
“She took off on me” she says
“uhhu, well your teaching her how to run away pretty good” I say
“Well I just want to get her sold, maybe I shouldn’t say trail broke on the ad”
“Yeah, that might be a good idea”
“well I want to get rid of her so I can train another one”
Before I can stop myself I say “ well if you cant get that rig sorted out, you have no business training anything else”.

Heh

Well Duh people! Someone has to be on the horses side. Someone has to look out for the horse. And you know what, its me. If I see you dicking around on your horse, yanking on its mouth, spurring it in its guts, or whipping it senseless you better look out. You better watch yourself because I am going to give you a verbal lashing you aint never seen. The horse is a simple, kind, gentle animal. It is a fun loving, good natured beast. The thing that drives me crazy is to see people ruin that, to see people take this noble, strong, beautiful creature and turn it into THEMSELVES.

My horses try, they try to be what I expect of them. I try to get better. I try to educate myself, to go beyond my safe zone for THEM, I try to offer them the best deal, and I am trying to learn how to be a fair dictator. I am trying to be the best I can be, so they can be the best they can. What would anyone else want? Why would I want something to be hard and tight and all wound up? I want something I can trust, something I can rely on, something that shows the world who I am… Because the horse does you know. The horse shows the world who you are in it…How deep you are, how fearless you are, how determine and honest you are… A horse, trained by you, will show it… Every honest inch of it… That’s your mirror, your true mirror…

Oh sure people can ride trained horses, and I will tell you, you can pick them out. The horse is dead-eyed.. oh yeah you can see it. They just go through the motions dead eyed, because they do not think anymore…… vs a horse that someone has a relationship with, a horse they have gentled and trained, sweated and bleed over…
Yes, that horse is awake, that horse is thinking… THINKING!

LOL!!! A Thinking horse? Well I be damned that would put the fear of god in some people!

Ride your horse without reins and see how much you get…

Ride it like you stole it!
LWZO!

Hey, is that a Fire?!

2010-07-20T10:46:00.000-07:00

Fear profits a Man nothing.

Luck, often enough, will save a Man, if his courage holds.

How true. No more true enough then trail ride #2 on the big beast. After a hard work out in the arena (poor guy was actually sweating!), we headed down to the river to get a munch of grass and to stick our hot footsies in the cool river water. While going down I heard branches snapping in the woods and figured it was either a deer or a bum since both overrun that general area. So I spoke loudly about how Phooka and I were going to check it out and we headed in. Now one thing I am learning, and practicing that I attribute to Buck is, chase the scary thing!.. So Phooka was feeling pretty light so we headed in trying to figure out what was going on. As we did I got the wiff of something burning, yup smoke. So we foraged deeper in the woods and came on the bum encampment complete with roaring fire ( in the woods, in the summer ) and 2 loose pit bulls. Oh lovely.

Now, I was not feeling sure of myself because there were 4 bum guys, beer in hand, but I calmly stated from my 9 foot perch..
‘uh, what are you guys doing?”
‘Oh” they say “ we are having a yard warming party”

“really?” I say “ do you have permit for that fire?”

Since calfire requires a permit after April for all burns.

“No” he yips back at me

“ well” says I, “I am going to call the fire department and let them know”

I then turn Phooka around and head back, the guy yelling at me all the time and the two dogs skulking around… We made it back to the barn without incident.

Yet I have to say, Phooka is for all intensive purposes pretty well trained. I am so proud of the big guy…

LW

Did you see that?!

2010-07-09T15:03:00.000-07:00

All it takes is a good leader. A person who is willing to step up to the plate, do what is required, and give a good deal. Honestly, that is all the horse is looking for.
That is level 1 in my style of horsemanhip That is the easiest level to reach, though for many it might as well be Mt Olympus.
After that you move on.. You get more refined. You hone your skills. You start playing games… you start playing the softness game… The game that says how little can I ask for before I get an ear, a eye, the muscles down the neck…How can I build softness through feel, how do I work with the horses mind…
That is harder…That is lightyears from where I am..
I still fling dirt around like an animal… Which is better then being blind!

It never ceases to amaze me..
Working with my trainer or buck they say
“You see that”…
I respond “ Oh yeah”
But you know I didnt have a friggen clue about what they are talking about!
Well let me be honest, it used to be I just nodded my head like an imbecile. Now at least I may catch it about 70 % of the time… At least I can see it
Getting it, getting the horse to do it, that.. well that is where I am still suck at. Still around 30% of the time… At least I can see it, at least I know what I should be doing.. Now it is getting it done…

Why also I can be dog tired at work, just dragging.. Get down to the barn, piddle around for 10 minutes and forget the hell of the day and just want to ride?!

Ghez…

Oh well.

LZO

What? I didnt Fall off? WOW!

2010-07-07T08:29:00.000-07:00

It’s suddenly somewhere. Oh I don’t mean like a trip down to the oceanside. I mean our confidence. It’s not like we notice right off the bat. It’s a slow thing. We challenge ourselves more, we ride with more impulsion, we ask our horses for more. We ask for life in them, speed, quickness. We notice we are hungry for it. We notice we come off less, we catch temper tantrums sooner.. We start to notice we are speed junkies....
Yes... we start to notice we like a little danger... we like to press the envelope a little..

We our outside our safe zone.

We don’t know how it happens, but it does.
We hit a milestone. We feel alive.

The reason this comes up is yesterday I am back from a long trip. My horses have not been rode for 5 days or so and I have a lesson. Oh sure I could have bailed out of it, but you know, the first thing I did when I got back ( well besides sleep and take a hot shower), was to go check on my horses... LOL.. HorseFREAK!)
So here I am lesson on the first day back, I pull the colt out, you know because I want to take it easy... saddle him up and ride around a bit in the round pen with my trainer working on the lead change.. Well she says, looks good, lets go out on the trail..
Trail smail! our trails our woody, dense, dark and deep and my colt has just started to be able to lead back there without rearing or wanting to take off with me...

"What?" says I
"Trail" says she...
mutter moan grumble...

"Fine" says I "but you walk in front"
"Fine" says she as she strips her chaps. which I am figuring helps her run faster if she is not wearing them.

Well she had me busier then a one legged man at a butt kicking contest, do this, do that, turn here, back up there, soft feel this... gah! Then she says "Trot em"..
"You want me to Trot back here?!"
then I get the evil eye...
"Fine!" says I
Off we go at the trot.. My guy is a champ, up, but a champ.
"Ok" says she in a large cleared area " trot half a circle, lope the rest, then come down to walk"...
You know, I felt no fear about that, I had my reins situated, I had a good seat, and my colt was trying to listen back to me. Oh he was up, when the owner and his pack of dogs came thru he almost bolted between my legs, but I held him and he settled a bit. So we loped, trotted, stopped and backed up...

It was awesome.

Only a few years ago I could not ride in that back trial without coming off my horse. I actually forgot how many times I have slipped, been bucked, and fallen, rolled or just plain was chucked off Phooka or Lucy back there... And here I am, on my little chupacabra and I finally, finally am able to do the deal...

It takes time, you have to invest, it won’t come overnight, and your horse needs to trust you... and you, need to trust not only your horse, but your skills as a rider.

Hi Ho!
LW

I feel like a V8

2010-07-06T13:23:00.000-07:00

You know, we take a lot for granted with our horses. We go out to the stables or the pasture, saddle them up, and then expect them to perform at the same level or better for us, regardless.

How many days have I not saddled my horse up because I felt tired, sick or un-energetic.
We have the same issues with our horses. There are days they feel good, and days they feel low. We need to be sensitive to them and understand that they too, have highs and lows. We need to tailor what we do with them, to where they are at.

We forget, I understand. We are flawed.

The chicken before the egg

2010-06-15T08:06:00.000-07:00

This is my day....
Riding my colt in the arena, I notice out of the corner of my eye a young rider working on jumps with her "new" horse and twiddle dee, and twiddle dum helping her out.
Horse goes over jump and knocks over rail with hind foot...
Twiddle Dee " You got to hit her with your crop just before you go over!"
Kid tries again, whack with the crop, and the jump falls over
Twiddle Dum " You got to go faster and hit her harder"
Kid tries again, kick kick kick, whack and the horse takes down both poles.
Twiddles " Try holding the rein, kick her, and then whack her!"
Kid tries again, and the horse just plows through the jump...

Enter... Me...

Now at this point, I dont care about that kid, or the silly women sitting on the sidelines... I care about that horse. And I will tell you something, that horse is not getting a fair deal.

Um... either of you ladies the kids trainer?
silence...
Ok, either of you the kids Mom?

One Twiddle raises her hand..

I say, umm.. you know, the horse plowing through the jump, the fourth time, well ya know that might not be such a good idea for a horse to learn... you know disrespecting the jump...

I says, I am not a horse trainer, or even a jump instructor... but I know, that you prob dont want to teach the horse how to do that...

So I ask... Do you have a lesson coming up?

"Oh yeah" Twiddle One says, " On Saturday, a Jumping Lesson".

Well says I, maybe the thing to do is to work on pace.. How many strides can you get between the jump and how to set the horse up to succeed on the jump.

Twiddle Two 'That horse knows how to jump!"

Me, to Twiddle " she may know how to jump, but when the rider gets in her way, she is learning how to avoide the jump"

Gah.
LZO!

uh, your other left...

2010-06-07T13:17:00.001-07:00

Renown is not something you can buy, or you can sit on. It has to be something you work for, that people see you doing and they say hey, maybe that person can help me.
It feels good to get a little of it.

The other day I was working my colt in the arena and a lady was having problems getting her horse up to the gate so she could come in. The horse was balking and backing away from it. I was watching her, and she asked me if there was anything she should be doing differently..

Oh yeah.

First, stop that back up. Kick em forward. Get those feet moving in the direction you want them to move, and don’t let up until they do. Do what it takes.

Well we got her up to the gate and in, but I noticed something.

“ You know” I asked her, “ can you get the hind?”.

Hmmmm…. Hind…. I could see her thinking… what is the hind….

“Can you ask for the horse to move its butt to the left.?” Ahh butt.. that made sense.

So she kicked on it a few times and the thing was like a block of wood.

Well says I, being the carefree person I am, that’s your problem. The horse can not separate what you are asking. So when you go up to the gate, banging on the horses sides, it has no idea what you want.

So we worked a bit together, and she was able to get the hind..

Well says I, it all goes back to basics..

Then another lady asks me the next day, My horse balks on the trail. When I ask him to go forward he stops, and then acts like he is going to rear up…

So I say, “ I bet it happens in the same place on the trail?”
A head nod..
I bet it’s the scariest place for the rider too.
“Oh yes” says she “ its where the trail drops off”.

Uuhu.

So I says “ Well, I bet your transition changes are too great either… ie from the trot to the canter, to the lope”…

“well in the round pen its ok, but not in the arena… “…

Uhhu….

It all goes back to basics. It all goes back to getting down to the feet.
It goes back to the horse feeling you tense up, tighten up, lose your confidence, then they screw around… yes… they know…

Its about not getting the basics and then expecting your horse to be champion out on the trail when he sells out on you in the arena….

Champions work everyday getting better…. Champions are forged.

Or Lady #3… I just bought a 23 year old horse that has never been ridden and by the way is so buddied up to the other horse next to her, that I have to move her to another stable….And I want to start riding…

Oh sure..Ok.

Just how soft can you be?

2010-06-01T14:06:00.000-07:00

Just how soft can you be, how willing can you be, how in tune can you be?
That’s the test. How little does it take, how much do they weigh in your hands. How well are they, regardless of the situation? Regardless of you?

Can you get the backup just by reaching for it? Can you have them come forward, just by pulling their energy to you? That is the question? That is the answer.

Can they move with quality and life, at the same time, in the right amount, for what you are asking. Can they wake up when you need them, and rest when you don’t.
Can you go from light speed to a standstill without being freaked out?

Whoda Thunk It?

Buck Clinic Thoughts 2

2010-05-13T20:34:00.000-07:00

Buck Brannaman Clinic Thoughts 2
Its been a couple days since the clinic and I have had a chance to dwell on things. Chew on things and determine if I was really understanding what I was seeing or if I was like so many others, just accepting what I was seeing but not really internalizing it. I know it’s hard to really see. To see beyond what we want to see the artistry that is going on between the horse and human. It is a quiet thing when it happens, no more than a hand movement, no more than a thought and the horse is executing the will of the human, in harmony.
Now I get it. Now I understand. Harmony between the horse and the human. Well at least I am now seeing some light. The human has to develop a relationship based on respect with the horse and then go forward from there. If the horse respects the human, and knows where to find release, the horse will willingingly do what the human requests, in harmony with the human. As the human moves, the horse moves. Not out of fear, not out of anger, but out of the desire of the horse to be safe. Safe with the human. Safe without fear, safe without anger, safe without getting beat on, or yelled at, or pulled on, or pried on.
The horse should move without pressure, without weight. The horse should be a light extension of our will, our thoughts and our desires. They should be with us, within our range of will. They should be weightless.
Some people drive their horses to weigh, a lot. They drag these anchors around and the horses show resentment for it. They are constantly fighting the horse, and they call this horsemanship.
It takes dedication to get your horse weightless. It takes skill and understanding. It takes being particular, without being picky. Picky drives a horse crazy, particular drives a horse closer to you.
I think that is a nugget I forget, how to help the horse prepare himself. How to help the horse and give the horse enough time ( without being soft and not getting what you need ), and then when the horse has gathered himself together, going with unity and feel.
Prepare yourself, in doing so, you prepare the horse, ask, then follow through.
I think sometimes we get ahead of ourselves, we lose track of what we are trying to do, we have so many things going on we forget to fix up the 10 or 20 things we should have been working on simultaneously. We are reaching for softness, while getting impulsion, while driving in being particular, while looking for give, while working on shape and form… all these things fall together.
Its art my friends, of the highest caliber. Yet once you start to mix colors, and see results, well then, you are hooked.

Buck Brannaman Clinic 2010 - Colt Starting Thoughts 1

2010-05-12T12:09:00.000-07:00

So I rode in the colt starting clinic with Komet and I learned a lot. I guess that if you had to boil it down that was what it was, but it was more then that. It was so much more.
I know I talked about day 1, the ground work, and some of the basic about horsemanship, some of the basics I have heard a million times before. Yet Day two it was more, it was learning about the eyes, learning how horses are balanced. Learning how drive and impulsion come not from the horse but from the request.

Funny world.

You would think horses are pretty straight forward, but they are as complex as any other animal on the planet. And when we think about getting on their backs to ride them, we need to be able to get what we request from them. Get all the way down to the feet.

There is a lot to go through to get down to the feet. I mean sure it starts in our head, the thought, right we are thinking I want the horse to turn on the hind. So we start to prep our bodies to get the horse to move. We hold the lead rope differently, we straighten up with direction, we know what we want, and we know what foot we want it on. In doing this we are communicating to the horse, our focus, body and language has changed, the horse knows a change is coming; they should be prepping for it, instead of locking us out. Then there’s the feel down the rein, the change in our body, the physical request. The horse should be prepped for this, executing to this, instead of finding ways to get out of it.
Get down to the feet, but through the rein or the lead rope we have to move through the horses head, through his mind, and that mind should be open, clear for us to go through.
It does not stop with just his mind, though, we have our own baggage to move through, is he going to kick me, buck me, bite me… We have to move through our fear, to our confidence.

I know Buck told me : Your confident on the ground, now get it in the saddle..
Yes, instead of wasting my time trying to hold on, maybe I should be riding, maybe I should be forward. Don’t anticipate it, move beyond it..

Yes..

Its like Art to me, learning this type of horsemanship. Learning how to hold a brush, is like using the mecate. How to hold it correctly, how to apply the paint, how to move it to create, circles, squares… With the horse, circle, square, stop.

It has to be from muscle memory alone, because there are other things you need to remember when riding, feet, body centered.. am I pulling to much with one rein then the other, is my seat correct, did I ask before I told….is it soft enough, hard enough… remember, remember…

Buck Click Day 1 w/Sully

2010-05-07T21:37:00.000-07:00

You know I want to talk about all the things I know. How smart I am and how witty my friends think I am. I want to talk about my horsemanship and how I am at the top of my game. But you know I cant. I survived day one of bucks clinic with a horse I think I may have had a total of 3 good weeks to work with considering all the rain and muck we have had to deal with down at the stables, and vacation and being sick. Well you know I could come up with a 1000 and 1 reasons why I didn’t have all the time I should have to take a steller student ( ie horse) to bucks colt starting clinic. But, I don’t.

So off me and “fondly” knucklehead go to the colt starting clinic. Where the are others in the class, some of which have already been saddled trained, and my Sully boy. Of course his name is Komet, but right now I call him Sully because he looks so sullen after I ask him for something.

But that is not what I wanted to talk about.

What I wanted to talk about was what Sully and I learned today. We learned we could get along. We learned about feel, and how it goes all the way down to the feet. We learned how a small thing on the surface can uncover a huge thing that was simmering under skin. How we “forget” what we are presenting to the horse, and how the horse can feel ambushed by us, even when we were trying to offer the best feeling we could. We learned how time and dedication, repetition and perserviance wins out over horse sense. How a gentle hand and a kind word can be rewarded with a nicker and a soft muzzle.
We learned how in a day, you can bring a horse and rider into the light, or in the same amount of time, you can have a renegade and an ambulance…
Firstly, when people talk about horsemanship, and all these different schools of horsemanship. I can only think of one thing. There is really one one school that works. Now of course works means a lot of different things to different people. Heck I saw a man today bridle a horse while it was shuffling around, eating grass from the ground, and basically ignoring him. He bridled it and rode it. Now it was not pretty, but he could do it. But does that mean it worked? Not to me. Didn’t work to me.
My horses should so a willingness, they should do what I ask. One thing Buck says is “I am a benevolent dictator, but I am a dictator. What I say, goes. “ With horses it has to ,otherwise they will end up running you over, and bailing out on you when you need them most. Yet, that does not mean kiddies you can be a nag or whip them, or smack them around either. No, its all about Air-Hair-Muscle-Bone. Its about giving the horse the best offer you can, and then if the horse does not pull through its about backing up your requesting and getting down to the feet. Yet it is also about helping set up the horse for success. Making sure the horse has all the tools it needs in order to get the job done, in a manner that is good for the horse. You don’t want to ask a pony to jump a 4 foot jump as the first thing it does. It will fail, and then if you whipped it to get it to go over the jump you build fear in the horse. Well you are never going to get anywhere with horses with that.
That does not mean I never bump my horses. I do. Yet I always make sure I ASKED first.

So that was one major take away today. Asking and Getting. What do they say? Asking is not getting, brother aint that the truth!

So Komet survived his first day with Buck. It was a major learning curve for him. We had homework we worked on while the horsemanship class was going on, and then after everyone packed up we worked some more. I finally see things coming together, but it took time and the guiding eye of people like Bonnie and Buck to help me.

Why we need out Teachers.

2010-05-05T12:00:00.000-07:00

No matter where you think you may be at in your horsemanship experience, I think it is important to continue to work with a horse trainer you know and trust.

I look at it more as a checkup then anything else, just have them watch you work with your horse, they can “see” things that well you may have overlooked. They can help you clean up, get more precise and basically refine your horsemanship.

I say this only because I had a lesson with my teacher the other day and it was so helpful. How many little things I overlook that she can pick up on. Help me see, how to get things working better for the horse… reminding me to take it back to the horses point of view… Oh sure I had things working, and for anyone on the outside they would say, yeah you had things working pretty good, but I could have them working good from the “horses point of view”… Big difference. Without building up any resentment from the horse. Helping the horse find that sunny place… Yeah.. its worth every penny.

Wow.. Its nice to have that, nice to have someone you can bounce ideas off, someone you can work with and fix things up with.

Someone you trust. Someone who cares about you. Someone who cares about the horse.

My Teacher is Bonnie Stoehn, look her up :)

What I want from life

2010-05-04T10:35:00.000-07:00

i want to ride my pony
i want a piece of candy
i want to splash in the water
i want to play in the mudd
i want to go barefoot

Ride around with a knife in your hands!

2010-04-30T09:10:00.001-07:00

You know we don’t go running around blindly with a knife in our hand down a flight of stairs.. But we will ride our horses with our reins akimbo, our feet out of the stirrups and our knees hooked over the saddle horn.

My question is why?

A horse is an explosive animal. Mother nature has built into the horse the best mechanism for dealing with fear of being eaten alive, To Buck and To Run. A horse will outrun a predator no problem, and if that predator is stupid enough to get close to a horse it will buck it into cinders…

As riders in order to remain safe, and prepared to support the horse we need to remember that.

In the kitchen, when we are chopping onions, or carrots as long as we stay focused on the knife and our hands, we don’t cut ourselves. The minute our attention wanders, or we get sloppy in our method well guess what. Off we go running around looking for a paper towel to stem the flow of blood from our hand..

Horse are the same way. If your attention wanders, your reins get akimbo, your feet pop our of the stirrups your heading for trouble. At all times you need to remember that the horse is like a knife, you need to keep your attention up, keep your gear organized because in an instant, that sleepy horse can turn into a cannon ball, or visa versa…

Hi Ho!
LW

Buck Brannaman Clinic 2010

2010-04-28T14:44:00.000-07:00

Just got back from a four day horsemanship clinic with Buck Brannaman. I would like to say it was all old hat and I had fun talking to people. Wish I could say that.
Wish I could say I know it all, and really these Buck clinics are like a refresher, just a little polish on an old pony..

Wish I could

But I cant. I come back from these things and realize just what a dink I am. Realize just how little I know, realize just how little I know and how long I have been doing this and just kinda sit stumped.

Softness, feel, timing, getting to the feet, riding it out, checking all the gears, get it done.

Easy words, oh so easy how they roll of my tongue, and whisper in my ear. How easy it is to forget that each one of those words has years of practice, each one of those are something to strive to, to work on, to achieve.

Words are so easy.. We can sound so smart. Yet when we are asked to know which feet are moving, and when to release a horse, when to set something up, how to perfect something. We stumble along blindly in the dark, thinking we are so smart..

Then when we really listen, when we really try to see, we realize how ignorant we are.. How stupidly we thought to be good at something we could just jump into the saddle and ride.

Oh that’s not say people don’t just do that. They do, put they lose the quality, they ride with tie downs, side reins, tom thumbs and full cheek solid bits. They never push their horses through all the gears and they never ride outside the arena, and if they do, they have every “crutch” known to horsemanship on their animals.. Sure you can ride, but can you do it with quality. Sure you horse and move on the halter rope, but is it halter broken….

I walk away from these clinics with so much more then I did before. I realize now, that learning horsemanship is like learning how to read or write. It takes time. Time to understand how the letters are formed, how they are combined, and then the meaning with them. Then you have to learn how to put them together to make simple sentences.. Then you can learn how to write a paragraph, a short story, a novel or something beautiful like poetry… Horsemanship is like learning to write… So much..

One Sided Horse

2010-04-19T09:50:00.000-07:00

I am not exactly sure why this happens, but it does, a horse gets solid on 1 side, but falls apart on the other. I know its because the human works on 1 side, gets the horse used to the human being on one side. I also know horses keep danger on 1 side, and escape on the other.

Not all horses react the same, some horses keep danger on the right, some on the left.

Its easy to figure out though.

Put something spooking in front of the horse, and see what side of the body, or what eye, the horse checks it out with. That’s the side that will be weaker. That’s the side you need to work on. That’s the side you need to put the saddle on, mount on, lead from because that’s the weak side.

That’s the side that when your riding or working with your colt that when something spooky happens they are going to bail out on you on. That’s the side that when something your doing when your riding catches that eye they are going to buck on.

That’s your weak link.

Let’Er Buck!
LW!

My little bucker!

2010-04-12T16:33:00.000-07:00

Confidence is not something horses are born with. In fact, I think horses can be the one breed of animal that was born a coward. Oh that’s not to say they are not curious, or gregarious. They are, but when push comes to shove, they will usually run away, kicking.

Horses learn how to be confident in the humans world. They learn through repeation. They learn with us, how to be un-afraid. That is not something that is easy for them, it is not something that comes naturally to them. They are not in the habit of trusting the human.

Yet, it just cant come from us on the ground, it needs to come from us on their backs. Riding them through hazards or issues that cause them concern. Helping to ground them, helping them over-come the fear.

This weekend was a learning experience that way for me. My colt Marshal was having issues, he was in a new surrounding, the wind was blowing, we have worked limited, Basically he had plenty of air under his hooves. Yet I know, I knew that I had to ride him, had to help him get his head on, get centered. It took about 2 hours of riding around, but then he came too, he relaxed. It took awhile.

It was hard for me, knowing what I know about him. He is a bucker. I always have this in the back of my head. I am riding the buck better, but I know its there. Not like Phooka, who just likes to take off with me, no.. Marshal is a bucker. Plus I have less miles with Marshal, he is not $100 bet yet, Phooka is, but not Marshal.

Yet I know each time we work through something that is hard for me, and we are successful, I know he will be more solid. I know he will improve. I know I will improve.

Though sometimes its hard jumping out of that plane!

Let er’Buck!
LW

I love riding

2010-04-07T18:37:00.000-07:00

Did I mention I love riding. Oh did I mention I love my horses? I think they are great, smart, snarky, lots of try, and damn fun to tool around on. Did I mention I love to canter, and gallop.. Wow, nothing better. Such a rush! I love riding, I love having horses I can ride. Wow..

I guess I can not purge that enough, sitting here in class, listening to the accounting sections all I can think about is the smell of horse on my shirt and the hay that is hanging in my hair. Thinking it is still light outside, warm, and I could still be riding instead of sitting here listening to income statements.

Ahh...

I love having more then one horse, I love having the opportunity to work with more then one horse, to learn about each of them, how they handle differently, how they act differently, how they can be all the same, how great nature is to make some noble and trusting creatures. How lucky we are as humans to have them in our lives.

I wish I could spend my entire day with them, riding, working with them, just being around them. They teach me about my self, my inner weaknesses, my strengths. They teach me how to face my fears, and how to explore how deeply I can love something and admire it. How I can put my trust into another creature, and release myself.

Its awesome.

I am entirely awestruck by how gentle they can be, how trusting they are, how willing they are to try to work with us, once they realize we want to work with them. How hardness can move to softness with determination and repeating.

We were lucky indeed.

Phoooka was awesome today, I love riding his huge canter, I just drop the reins and hang on, he is my black and white frieght train. I love working with Komet, watching him learn, and remember things, gentle and sweet, and Marshal, my snarky little boy with a ton of heart! He is following in Phookas hoof prints!

Emma who is on her way, solid and started, Jack, who knows his own mind, and Lucy, Oh Lucy!

Let er' Buck!

LZ!

Its been a week or so

2010-04-06T13:05:00.000-07:00

I know its been over a week and I have not posted. But its been raining, its been cold, I have been under the weather and basically just doing the due diligence of horsecare.

Whats new, whats going on… waiting for the sun, waiting for the warmth of those golden rays to help remove the extra coats of hair on our noble steeds. Fuzzie Ponies.

Its tough getting back in the saddle after a week off, things don’t stretch as good as they should and complain when you use them. Ahh the weight gain of winter!

How long can I hold the reata coil in my hand before my arm screams for me to put it down… ahh about 15 minutes! LOL.

Was able to work the trio yesterday, Phooka got a ride around, Marshal worked on putting his bridle on like a good citizen, and Komet got some lessons on manners and moving his hind quarters before the sun set and the chill set it.

Getting a horse to bridle good is an art form in itself. There are so many places they can get to head tossing, dorking around and just being a pill that sometimes its hard to figure out where to start from where things fell apart. I always default to the start, always default to the beginning. Does he put his head down, will he keep it down, does he tuck into me, can he handle the bridle over his eye, will he open his mouth, will he keep his head down… so many baby steps… so much time invested.

Makes you appreciate the cost of some of those 100% broke horses that are for sale.

Figure this :

I if a person makes 35$ an hour and spends 3 hours a week at the start with their horse teaching it how to take the bit like a good solid citizen and it takes them oh a month before the horse gets ok at it, and then another 3 months before they are solid, well that’s a 1000$ just in getting the bridle. And that’s one small step in a ton of steps…

Easy to see how horses can cost of 10,000$ in no time.

Hi Ho!
LZO

Phooka would be worth, oh about $1,000,000,000.00!

A Gentle Horse

2010-03-25T17:52:00.000-07:00

I posted a short video about a what I think a gentle horse is, click the link above to view it..

Ahh.

2010-03-24T12:57:00.000-07:00

This is the 4th time Komet has worn the saddle for me. You can see it looks like he is now getting used to it, moving out nice, still a little hurried but that will get better. He has a little "tude" when pressed, but that too is also normal. The back up needs a little work!
Hi Ho!
LZ!

A lesson in saddling

2010-03-23T13:07:00.000-07:00

Komets 3rd saddling lesson.

There are a couple things to see if you can pick up here.

1. Notice he does not start bucking until he moves into the canter. This is normal, and why so many people get in trouble when they first start riding colts. At the walk, the stirrups dont bounce around, the cinch is looser, but once they move up to the canter, the stirrups start to bang them, the cinch tightens and well.. they buck. Most green riders are not expecting this, and have not prep'd the horse for the sensations.

2. He is looking outside the round pen. This says, hey I dont need to be "with" your feel. You dont exist.

3. He turns his butt in to the center of the arena, which basically says, I am defending myself.

Now these things start to clear up and he gets a better feel, but the at the start these are all things a person should be looking for and trying to fix up. The key take away here is these are all things I would expect from a colt, its normal.

You will notice to the end he is softer...

Hi Ho!
LZ

Einstein could have been a horseman!

2010-03-22T21:13:00.000-07:00

If there is one theory that I find is pretty much universal it is “Everything is relative to the observer” You don’t know how many times I have worked with peoples horses and they have said, “ Oh my, he never did that before, it must be you”, or “ It is the different place, he never acts like that at home”. To which my response is, your right.

Now I will agree that horses will act differently in different situations. It is of course all relative. People have different feel and present things to the horse differently. Yet at the core, the horse, will respond pretty much as he always will regardless of the situation. As long as he has been exposed to the same stimuli. Take the gentle boy below. His owners are scratching their heads trying to figure out what I did differently (which generated the bucking fit ) vs. what they did.

Now I know the ladies that own him, and they are honest folks. So when they say they saddled him, and pony rode him around, well I believe them. The key things here is, we did it differently, and really worked for different results. That does not mean what they did was wrong… Well let me say this, since there was no train wreaks, what they did was not wrong, if there had been a train wreak, well then…. It’s a different story. Yet, in this case everything went off without a hitch for them, and their colt is responding as I would think any colt with the gentle handling they have given him would do.

It has been about 4 sessions with the saddle and the colt is calming down and getting used to the whole situation. In a week he will have wondered what he was worried about at all.. And regardless of when or who saddles him next, in whatever rig, this colt, will respond as if he has done it a million times. Yet I know you are asking, well why did he buck for you, and not for those ladies. The answer.. to paraphrase a song, is blowing in the wind. .. If it was a straight forward as, well I used a back cinch, and they didn’t. You all would nod your heads, knowledge in hand and never use a back cinch. But its not that simple. I wish it was. That’s why some of us spend $$ for awesome teachers and week long clinics, because we are trying to get better at communicating with the horse.

In colt starting you want to work out all the kinks, so when I get my arse on his back, I have a pretty good chance of staying on and giving him a full ride, walk/trot/canter. For most of you, the last thing your thinking about is riding at the canter on a green colt! LOL! Your happy enough to get the saddle on, and to walk around a couple times. But to make sure everything is checked out, so when they go back to their owners they are good citizens the colt starter has to check out everything. I cant risk a horse not knowing what the cinch’s feel like, or the stirrups when they bang around at their shoulders.

I need the horse to not grab their ass, so when the owner accidently jabs them in the gut they don’t go off bucking. I need them to bend so the cinches grab them, so they know what the saddle and rig feels like when they move, when it tightens around their barrel and be ok with it. They need to see my out of both eyes, left and right, and get used to the change. Then I know when they go back to their owners well, they got a solid foundation, that they can move away from pressure and be good citizens. That when they get out of trouble, instead of bailing by bucking and leaving the rider on the ground, they hang with them, and try to figure a way away from the pressure or spook they found. As a colt starter you got to find those sticky spots, so when your ass is on the line, your safe. Why, well you want to do it again right, with a different colt. Its damn fun!

The key take away here is what works at home may not work at a different location. Most colts get a sense of sleepy when you only work them in 1 location. Once you take them to a new location they act like they are on the moon. Change is good. Last thing you want is to start riding your colt at home, only to take them somewhere else and find out you got to start all over again. You should also get a little sloppy in your approach on the colts. An example would be when you saddle them. Let the saddle pad touch thier bellys, fall on the other side, bang on thier flanks. Some day you may be saddling and something like that happens, its good to know you got no buck there.

You got to play in different areas so you can find out where the buck is, where that sticky place is because in the end your just not starting a horse, your creating the foundation for the rest of that animals life, your building within them a safe place for them, and their riders.

Hi Ho!
LW

He is bomb proof!

2010-03-19T09:16:00.000-07:00

Everytime I work with the colts I learn or experience something new. Either about the horse or the people who ride them. It is one of those things where you can not take anything for granted. You need to follow the steps, because the last thing you want is to realize while your in the saddle that something was not tested out and then you got to ride it out.

The same goes for the first time the horse wears the full western saddle. Now I know people can get away with saddling a horse. Heck they can sneak the saddle up on its back, very quietly not to get the horse upset, make sure the stirrups are tied up so they don’t bang around and then barely cinch the saddle up… Heck you can even do that with a western saddle.

But in the real world, we don’t saddle our horses that way.

In the real world, we want to ride, we are usually in a hurry and there is gear on our saddle that bangs around. So for the first time a horse wears the saddle they need to be able to handle the noise, and racket of things coming up to them so you can saddle them. They need to be ok with you up around there shoulders moving around and touching them without grabbing their asses or making you grab yours.

Then once you can do that, you can get the saddle on, help the horse remain still and quiet ( not checking you out, or moving around, nothing worse then trying to saddle a moving target!!!).

Once the saddle is on, and the back cinch is tight you move them out..

This is what happened to me yesterday..

Moved the horse out, at the walk he was alright, but I know in the round pen, he is going to grab his ass and when he does that cinch is going to grab him and he is going to canter, and when he does all hell can break lose…

So I asked the colt to move up to a trot from the walk and he lost it..

I never heard a horse scream before… don’t think I will ever forget it..

Poor guy..

He went screaming and bucking around the round pen, I am sure he thought he was going to be eaten alive by the cougar that had now jumped on him. So much in fact the other horses at the stables picked up on it and started to freak out… Even Emma our horse which is stabled next to him freak out… she started to call out in a manner I had never heard from her… Truly fascinating.

It took him about 5 minutes to calm down and once he did he was as good as any cowpony… but it will take a few more times before he is settled… Hopefully there was just that first buck….

The moral to the story is this.. I was told this horse had been saddled and even then the owners had given pony rides on it… Based on what I saw, they were sneaking rides in, and well….. they got real lucky 

Hi Ho!
LW

Whats the trick?

2010-03-17T16:48:00.000-07:00

The trick to being a better rider...

Push your fear down deep... forget about it...
Ride your horse, alot
Ride your horse at the canter and gallop.
Ride bareback
Wear a helmet
Ride in areas that push your comfy zone.
Have a good trainer
Keep the horse between you and the ground
Stay healthy and fit

Why did I never see that before???

2010-03-16T09:09:00.000-07:00

Sometimes we become blinded to our own ambition. We work so hard to try to get something fixed up that we lose sight of the bigger picture. Lose site of the things that are really important. Basically we just get in our own way.

This happened with Marshal and me… You see the last lesson I had with my Teacher she was trying to explain to me that I was moving to fast for Marshal, that I needed to build up my cues for him so he could understand and internalize what I was communicating to him.

Here is an example. In order to get the stop, I basically stop riding. I let the life in body relax down to my seat bones and I apply gentle pressure with my thigh near his shoulder.. Slow down.

Well what my trainer noticed is that yes he would stop, but he would be chomping on the bit.. chew chew chew… Well there are some tricks to get them to stop doing that and actually release the tension they have built up.

What my trainer recommended was to start with the rein, which I was not doing, and then move to the seat after he pressed into a soft feel…

No Chew…

Ok.. so I had to walk away with that, thinking what in hell did it all mean.. I was a failure because I had not seen it..

Then I had a gal riding Marshal in the round pen and for the first time I was able to watch him with another rider on this back.. And I noticed he was tight in through the mouth and up through the neck. In fact as she rode around it look like the little guy was not breathing at all…

I asked her to stop riding and give him a rub down his mane, and he released a big sigh… Hmmm something is brewing in that little guy brain of his.. He is tense because ….

Well now that’s what I need to figure out.. I know it goes back to communication. I know it goes back to the fact that not all horses are the same… it goes back to the rider..

So later in the day a gal was riding her horse trying to get him to move into a soft feel. He was rooting around and she was pressing him back and basically they looked like a drunk driving a semi truck… Just kinda all over the place.. She was saying she was trying to get him to move unified…

Well I said, if it was my horse, I would first start working on just getting him to stop rooting around…

But you see, there is the dilemma we all face.. We are trying to fix something up, and we get so focused on trying to fix that up that we don’t “SEE” the other things we should be working on…

IE my horse needs to back up straight… well we work so hard on that, that when someone watches us, the darn horses head is up in the air and his feet are not moving in correct cadence, but yup he is moving straight, and guess what ! You just built in a ton of stuff you got to build OUT again.. which by the way is 2x as hard as not getting it started in the first place..

HiHO!
LW

Moving through hardness to softness

2010-03-09T14:36:00.000-08:00

Horses are unique, and each horse handles the situation presented differently.
Some horses require a stronger hand, while others just need soft re-assurance.
I think as a horse handler you need to be aware of this as your working with them, to adjust what you are doing with the horse to support the horse in the best way possiable.

Just bite her ear.

2010-02-18T14:46:00.000-08:00

Its the old saying, when making love to the virgin, at the point of entry, to bite her ear to distract her from the pain.... well.. it works with horses.. Ok, dont let your imagination go wild...

so I am riding in the round pen working on the trot - canter transitions. My bucky boy loves these and has found that if he gets "anxious" he can usally distract me from wanting to do this because well, he is a bucky boy...

Enter in the two headed bucking cougar chased clown suit riding a pig...

In the arena there were two horses and a half.. the half was a pony..
Well they are running around bucking, going full bore..

My bucky boy can see them from the round pen where we are working...
He is getting "up"...

grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...

So I picture in my mind that in the arena there is really two headed bucking horse chased by a cougar being herded by a clown riding a pig...basically the scarist thing I think my horse could ever see...

I picture that, but continue to work on what I was working on... and then something magical happened...

My horse didnt care about what was going on in the arena....

Ahh...

I figured I would just get past the bucking horse and go right to full freak out..
but I remained calm inside... and so did he..

One small step for me!

Magic Man

2010-02-16T14:48:00.000-08:00

Did I mention I like working with horses. Working with the new colt. He is coming along. It is funny how we start to notice the little things. How we can be more in tune with the horse. How we realize how the horse relates to the human. Sure you can be a hairy chested cowboy, or you can do it another way. I think I like the other way. It has been good that I am filming my progress. I can see when I should have hung in there, or when I could have had better timing. When I rewarded to early, or I was to late. I watch myself and say, I should have not taken that. I should have hung in there.. Its not that I sold out, but its more that I could have gotten it fixed up a little better instead of being tired or lazy. Yes that happens too.
Marshall was a little pill, Mr. Bucky! Well at least he is helping me get better at riding a bucking horse!

HiHo!
LW

Why cant I see it?!

2010-02-12T09:26:00.001-08:00

Ok, I know I am still learning. I know that I have alot to learn in regards to reading the horses and understanding what they are telling me. Ok I get it. But how to I achieve the same level of sensitivity.

Ah that is the challenge, that is the crux of the whole thing.. Well that, and riding as fast as the horse can carry me…. Hmm still working on that. Still have that stuck in my paw.
Yet there are other things I can challenge myself with in the interim. Other things I can hassle myself over.

How can you tell which side a horse is sensitive on, movement, action, response. To know that is where the trouble will come from. That is where the buck is locked, that is where the stiffness is .. That you need to work that area in order to… FREE UP THE FEET!

Gadzooks.

Reward the smallest try, get down to the feet. Understand where things are stiff and work the horse.. evenly… Even..

Hi HO!

ps, the rain can stop now, please.

Working with the Colts

2010-02-11T16:58:00.000-08:00

You know working with the colts teaches us a lot. I finally got smart and invested in video camera so I can record how I am working with the horses. Not to mention the fact that I can see how chubby I have become. Oh well…

In working with Komet (provided by Ellen and Kristen ) I can see where I could improve on my feel. I was leading him when working at liberty on the round pen which caused him to shift a few times. I need to be more sensitive as to where my body position is.
I can see too that I was not aware of the subtler cue he was giving me. I should have picked up more on his ears and the turn of his head, I could have used that to my advantage.

This is nice show of a horse who does not have to much in regards to handling using the methods I use. You can se him struggle a little bit, trying to use his tricks on me, vs driving with what I was asking for.

Can you hear the chain saw in the background.? Or the guy dropping off hay?

When I was trying to get him to hook on, he was having issues, and I realize that was due to the fact he did not understand how my body was putting pressure trying to give him ease from pressure. He is getting better.

He is bit pushy, wants to walk all over you. That is something we can work on.

He does not know how to follow the pressure from the lead rope, he is learning.
You can see the videos on the tool bar on the right (you tube)

Let er' Buck!
LW

Ride it like you stole it!

2010-02-09T13:35:00.001-08:00

Is riding an art? A Science? Or it is a journey? Is it a look into our selves, a test of our strengths and our weaknesses?
As a woman I understand that I need to find the power in myself to help guide the animal. I need to find the confidence in my abilities in order to help the horse find confidence in his. We are a union, a symbiotic unit, the horse and I. The horse needs to find me calm and confidence in order for him to feel secure and at ease.
When I speak of ease I do not mean as one who is subordinate to another, one who has no thoughts of his own. It is here I speak of ease of heart. For the animal will still have his own desires, his own thoughts, but the more I can make those thoughts mine, by ease, by unity, the better for us. As long as I remain strong in my own desires, the animal will remain strong in mine.
How can we learn this inner strength, where does it come from. Why do children seem to have it, and as we grow older we seem to lose it altogether.
It is unknown for me at this point, yet I think that we need to overcome our hesitation, it is only then we can strive to have the unity with the horse that the animal deserves. It is only when we master our inner fears and reservations that we can come to be with the animal and lead the animal through our will alone. Of course you can use things to drive this, tools, equipment, fear and the crop. Yet this does not strengthen the bond, it relies on fear, the one thing we are trying to resolve. The killer of unity.
I think we can only achieve this by doing the thing we fear most, riding the speeds and methods that drive us away from achieve our goals. We must overcome them. We must be able to be carried and to carry as fast as the horse is can go.
We must ride like we stole it.

Hi Ho!
LW

What the hell is this thing on my head?

2010-02-02T14:31:00.000-08:00

Today I worked with Emma. Proud, Proud Proud is all I can say.
Oh yes, she "forgets" things, and is sometimes a little slow... but overall she is doing pretty good.

Worked with the slicker today, oOOoo scary.. but workable. Noticed she still is not lineing up good when we stop work on the round pen ( walk, trot ), I get the half profile.. On the lead rope she picks up good, move the hind, but on the bar, not yet... ponder, ponder..

Rode her around in the round pen on the halter, sticky on the hind.. needs work.
Then went to put her bridle on... Once I got it on, she flipped out..

Like what the hell did you just put on my head...

Took her awhile to calm down... then she was chewing the bit, flicking her tongue over it... So I tied her out and let her chomp it for awhile...

HiHo!
LW

Grabbed my Ass

2010-02-02T08:50:00.000-08:00

Ok, I love riding my horses. Yet I have to admit that I have one horse that is a Son of Buck. Walking around the stables yesterday coming back from the poo pile, something pushed his buck button and off he went, buck buck buck buck.... Everyones jaw's dropped... Yes he is my bucky boy...

Now the issue, I was sure to highlight to the watchfull crowd, is riding that... You never really know what button, will be the button that trips the buck-a-lot.

So yesterday after we moved around a bit I rode him in the round pen, He was pretty good... the air was crisp, the horses were jumping around and I thought ahh what the heck lets mosey around the stables...

Hmmm..

Sandee's big white horse, for whatever reason throught at that time he would be a freak, running around his stall, leaping up, rearing up, which of course Marshall picked up on, and well for that matter all the horses around him, now it did not help that a lady was cleaning out her trailer and while she was doing this, thought it would be a good idea to load her horse in it, and leave the door open, so the horses head could stick out... Its fine unless your a horse, seeing a head peek out from something that does not look like a horse...

Well, I felt myself start to grab my ass, because well my spunky little bucksalot was picking up on the energy and starting to get a little onrey... And all I could think was, he is going to buck, he is going to buck... Which of course only caused me to grab my ass tighter, which in course caused him to want to grab his ass...

Lovely...

Well we managed to get around those horses where he was like hmm, maybe I can make Mom grab her ass by acting like a fool... and so we went back to the spooky spot, where he made me grab my ass, with me thinking about anything but grabbing my ass.. and it was better, but I noticed something...

I noticed he was searching for things, to test, to see if he could get me to grab to my ass...

Interesting...

Sometimes you just got to figure out, how to ride a bucking horse...

HiHo!
LW

No longer Oregon, Got California Back

2010-01-28T16:36:00.000-08:00

ok, the sun was out, so I went to see the horses. They were very happy!
Turned everyone out, they got some sun for an hour or two and jumped around a bit.
Getting ready for the new colt, kinda excited about it.

What's for dinner

2010-01-26T19:25:00.000-08:00

Here comes the rain again

2010-01-21T11:40:00.000-08:00

Woke up at 4am, doctored the goat, headed to work, heavy rain, road flooded, tree branches all over the place. At 1:30 I get a call, San Lorenzo river is flooding, and oh by the way, the stables in which I board is right on the river.
Rush down the to stables. Trees all over, 1 horse trailer crushed, my horses are freaked out, part of the houses along the river have been evaucated due to a log jam downstream. Luckily, river is starting to go down, but oh by the way, did you get the toronado warning? Heck I dont even know how to spell it! This is CALIFORNIA!

Will have to check my little boat today because 1 boat already sank in the upper harbor.....

My horses were freaked out, but once I got there, they settled down... gah.

How I long, just for rain!

Rain break

2010-01-19T16:52:00.000-08:00

Vet was out to check the goat turns out she could have an abcess behind her eye
I now have to give her shots 2 times a day
One sub q and the other intermuscular
The rain has stopped briefly
HiHo

A side of rain?

2010-01-19T12:54:00.000-08:00

Well even I have to admit, trying to have a restful weekend can turn into something that you least expect.

Saturday was the Darkwood Archery Event which means I get to bring all the stuff, and Marshall the field.
Fine.

I had hoped to sit on my arse the entire day, oh well.

It is nice to see everyone though, so I guess I should not complain too much!

Saturday it was raining, so I spent some nuzzle time with the horses. Basically walking them around the stables, brushing them out, and just giving them scritches. Sometimes that is ok too.

Sunday I made it to the stables, but it was rainy and wet. So I brushed everyone, hung out with them and walked them around a bit. Poop

*sigh*

Like I have been saying, all I wanted to do was ride my horse.

The weather continued to deteriorate and Monday it was worse, power was out all day ( it was MLK day so I had the day off ) and then the road was closed.

Now here was the deal on that. The road closed down from my house. Which usually is ok, because I can drive up the mountain and go all the way around. But, silly me, I did not fill up my car, and the tank was almost empty and since I am driving the big truck there was not enough gas in the truck to make it all away around the mountain.

SO I tried siphoning gas from my other truck, you know the one that is overheating.

Have you recently tried to siphon gas…

It sucks
It did not work.

So I went back into the house and fixed my pattern box.. Got bored hanging out in the house so I went up to the goats and worked with the horses at the house.
Found out one of my goats has a really badly infect eye, so I had to put her in the stall.
Poop another vet bill.

So all in all, not much horse this weekend, other then just spending a little time with them and missing them a lot.

The Week of Woe

2010-01-15T10:03:00.000-08:00

ok, so it started out ok. Had some money in the bank, got to ride my horse... then it went downhill from there...

1. It rained. Soupy, soggy everything.
2. White Truck went on the Fritz...- Overheating.
3. Gold Truck making sick tire noise
3.1 Fix tires - noise should go away
3.1.1 Noise still there.
3.1.1.1 Take it to another auto shop... gadzooks.
4. Where did the money from my paycheck go?
5. No hot water in the AM shower...
6. Archery on Saturday and possiablity no truck to haul stuff...

Lovely.

Plus, I miss my horses..

7. Just got truck back, its okish for now ( ie gold truck )
Apparently when the hubs are locked I get the funky noise, when hubs are
unlocked, noise goes away.

Oh I mean I see my horses everyday... but I want to spend time with them. I know they want to spend time with me. Doing stuff, having fun, well its fun for me.!

Re-reading Xenophon... for a few pages its has a couple golden nuggets

1. Not everyone destined to train horses. - Duh.

2. Colts should be tractable, gentle and affectionate when delivered to a trainer - Yeah that would be nice.

3. Let the animal connect annoyance of flies, thirst and hunger with solitude, and associating food, drink and escape from sources of irritation with the presence of man so that they crave humans - Yes, very smart.

4. Know where your likes to be scratched - Kewl.

5. A broke horse should take the bit, and let you mount it - Yeah those head tossers must have been a real pill even way back when!

6. Does your horse leave other horses, or try to bolt back - Yeah, that sucks.

7. If going full speed is will the horse let you rien him in. - Yeah runaways suck.

8. If your horse is trouble while manouvring he will give his rider work enough to occupy both hands and a sinking feeling in his heart when danger thickens. - Been there! And that is why kiddies, we take our time, and let our horses grow stronger mentally!

9. One should not only bit a horse when one plans to ride, but other times as well, so the horse learns to take the bit when presented. - Can I get a AHMEN!

10. Never be angry with a horse because it will often drive a man to do things, that in a calmer mood, he may regret... - so true.

11. If a horse is afriad of something striking him will only intensifies his fear, and the horse mentally associated the pain he suffers at that moment with the item of suspicion, which he will naturally regard as the cause. - Its not what happened, but what happened before what happened, happened.

12.When the moment to dismount has come never do it amoung other horses but in the precise spot which is the scene of his compulsory exertion. - Oh yeah, last thing I want to do is train my horse to run to the barn.

13. If anyone proposed by a series of fast and oft repeated gallops to produce a sense of weariness in a spirited horse, his expectation will not be justified by the result. - Basically running your horse in the round pen for an hour, will only tire you, and strengthen your horse!

Things havent changed much... Well except for a few things..like

1. Put the reins over the horses head to bridle him - No, never do that, unless of course you want to chance having your rig run away.!

HiHo

LW

14. A spirited horse should not be raced against other horses, as a rule, your fiery-spirited horse is only to fond of contention. - Duh.

15. Cl

Another day of not riding

2010-01-14T15:35:00.000-08:00

Yup that's my truck sitting there in the auto shop which means I am sitting somewhere nearby.
My white trash truck is now overheating, why, who knows and my gold mule had a bad tire which was making it sound like a tank rolling over the snow.
So in order to have a truck that drives I had to park the white, fix the gold, get paid and then fix the white.
Some day I am going to breakdown and buy a good used newer truck but as long as the repairs are cheapish well....
Its sunny today so will get to the stables early tomorrow.
Got out of the DR's and he now has me on meds for the abscess so hopefully that will resolve itself.
HiHo
Lw

Lunch with the boss

2010-01-13T13:14:00.000-08:00

Had lunch with the boss today, he is leaving for the UK. It sucked and almost got stabbed with a fork by a co-worker, but besides that, its ok.
Something about the comment I made about her father... maybe thats a no touch subject?

Hmmmm

Got to spend a little time with the ponillas last night. Turned them out in the round pen, while I mucked and fed. Lucy is making ride me noises so I think she is ready for some exercise. I try to be carefull with her because of her legs and feet, but sometimes the old girl just needs to be rode...

After I got the horses from the round pen, Emma was like can I be your buddy?

I was like... yeah...

Hi Ho!

Rain Rain go away...

2010-01-12T10:19:00.000-08:00

So was going to have a lesson with my trainer Bonnie on Weds, going to cancel that. Yuk round pen. Yuk arena.

The alarm went off at 6am but once I heard the rain I stayed in bed. Bleck.

The stables become a wet, goopy, puddle mess... no fun.

My breast is abcessing again, so I made an apt on thursday for the Dr. Going to have to take Meds this time to get it to go away.

Still pissed at myself from yesterday... god I am such a chicken.. I should have been able to handle him, should have been able to support him... gadzooks.

Dodging Bullets

2010-01-11T13:13:00.000-08:00

Today I had a lovely 1 hour block to work with Marshall, so it was a curry and pick, and on goes the saddle and into the round pen. We saddled up and worked on walk, trot, canter transitions. He is ok moving from the walk to trot, but still googly eyed all around, its a fix to get him centered, then he tetters off again when his attention wanders, so it s fix again. We worked just in the halter, moving the hind, feeling the leg. I worked on keeping my grip and posting from the knees up. You know, and I know we all lose our stirups and I really rely on them, alot more then I should.

Then I bridled him up, and we worked on taking the bit softly, head down, without dicking around too much. He is ok, maybe a 5 on a scale of 1-10. I have those mohair reins and with the pending rain, they were stiff as heck. I think I am going to move to the parachute cord. It has a good feel, remains stiff, not slippery and feels does not feel like roping rope.

We were doing ok, until the a lady got out into the arena with her horses and started using the plastic bag to get them riled up. Marshall started snorting and hopping around. Now I could have stayed on him, but I took the better part of valor and got down and sent him on some circles. The moment I got off, he snorted and then started bucking like a fool...

ok, so I dodged a bullet...

After she was done flagging, I got back on, and while spirited, he was not bucking. Life is good. We worked on moving off the leg, with the neck rein support. He did a 6 on that. The stop was good, a 6 and the back up... was miserable... 3.. He is soft, very nice, but his feet are pretty sticky.

Got him back in, got everyone a little grass and off to work for another meeting.

Hi Ho!

LZ

Day 11

2010-01-11T10:26:00.000-08:00

Had a busy weekend, with little horse interaction, but tons of people interaction :P
I very much favor the later.

Did get to spend a little time with the horses though, more in passing then actual working. Mac made it down on Sunday for about an hour so I was able to show him the progress I have made with Emma. That was pretty cool. Last year, with the flag, or a plastic bag, she was checked out. I would get the wall eye ( where you see the white of the horses eye, and then the snorting. She was off, all four feet moving.

now she stands there, and almost looks bored... Yeah!

Now its time to ride.

Bucks clinic is in may down in Salinas, he is Doing H1 and Colt starting. Since I didnt want to buy another horse, I searched my friend pool for someone who may have a horse I could start. Lucky for me I know of 2 kind ladies who own 14 horses with little or no handling. All good horses, but it would be nice if someone could help them out, and if in way it could help me out. Of course I will pay stall fee, but in the end I am not saddled with another horse, and they get a horse that if they keep up with it, they can ride. I am hopeful I can document the process here...

Going to see Emma and Marshall at lunch.

Hi Ho.

LW

Day 4

2010-01-08T09:07:00.000-08:00

Managed to drag my nyquil arse out of bed this morning to go down to the stables.
Been fighting a cold and last night I double dosed the Nyquil. Slept like a rock.
Woke up and the left side of my face was puffy but I feel like I did rest.

It was beautiful going down into the stables, there was a light mist on the trees and the shading was gorgeous. I love the mountains!

All the horses were anticipating food this morning. Everywhere I looked there were big horse heads peering out to the parking lot searching for the their food person.

Marshall and Emma were both calling to be this morning so I rounded up them and Luce and got them turned out in the arena and did my morning chores. They ran around like crazy kids until I went to get them to feed.

Been working with Emma on building her trust. Getting her to reach for me. Having her search for that warm happy place with me. Today, as everyday when I haltered her to bring her out of her stall she did a quick charge once she was clear of the gate... Been trying a couple different tactics working on it, but today I sent her back in and we worked on baby steps. Wow..

Something has sunk in with her. It was amazing watching her feel down the led rope for me. I could lift the rope and send one foot 1/2 a step back, and bring the other one 1/2 step forward... So cool.

I did not have to chase her around the arena today either to halter her up to take her back to the stall. We used to play that game. Until she learned that if she was near me she didnt have to run around, near me, means getting scritches and hanging out... a sweet sunny little spot of happy horse goodness.

I have to cook tonight for 12th night, so I wont be doing much down @ the stables, and tomorrow we will be in Concord.

Hi Ho!

LW

Day 3 -

2010-01-07T08:41:00.000-08:00

Well I am back at my desk, it is 8:30 and the coffee is brewing in our break room. I managed to get up at 6:10 and get to the stables by 6:30, coffee in hand. I dont know why I am proud of myself for being able to do this. Yet, strangely I am. I am getting up early, which for me is a feat in itself.. I am sick and I am PMS'ing and I still managed to break my old habit of crunching up into a ball and sleeping till 8:30. It is quite possible I would have even called in sick today, cramps and ucky feeling.. but no.. I thought to myself if I was on a working ranch would I have gotten away with that.. I dont think so.. I think I would have taken some aspirin, with a Coors and headed to work. It is really all about perspective.

The horses were happy to see me, I think as far as horses go. Rita had already fed for me, but Marshall happily left his food pile to come to his gate to greet me. I haltered him up and took him out to the big arena.. Where of course he promptly rolled in the wet sand. Emma, also left her hay pile and then tentatively walked up to her gate. Building trust in a horse is worth its weight in gold, if you can wait for it... You have to wait for it..

Of course you can make a horse do anything, with enough rope, whips and tie downs, draw reins, crops, spurs, twisted wire snaffles, mechanical hackmores, side reins, pull reins, chin straps tight enough to snap themselves.. yeah you can make a horse do anything... but to have them willingly do something, softly, smoothly, effortlessly with no weight... wow...

So anyways that's not where Emma is at.. no she still weighs a ton, but! she did on her own, come up to me to get haltered.. Of course I had to wait on it, but it is happening. Ever day she gets better, every day she may take another step, or move with more life... but you see what I am building, you see where I am going... Its the first step... She is coming to me..

Well anyway :P

Got them both turned out and they ran around like crazy, mucked out and then got them back into stalls and tied out for curry and pick. ( checking out hooves and a good brushing over. )
Good horses.

You know I think I left here the other day with the thought that I have only had horses these last 6 years. I have to admit that is true, I have only ever owned my own horses these last 6 years. Yet I did have horses in my life before that.

I grew up 1/2 time in Santa Cruz and 1/2 time in San Jose. Back in the day before the million $ homes the south side of San Jose was mostly ranches, lots of cattle and tons of orchards. Oh almonds, apricots, plums, apples, it was heaven. During this time I spent my summers at my grandmothers ranch. She had 10 acres in the foothills that was surrounded by other ranches. She had a few horses and all her neighbors had 1 or more horses. I used to ride her horses, and then ride her neighbor's. We had friends that owned cattle that had grazing rights on the old Garcia land grant and once every year ( I think around memorial day ) we would for a week spend it gathering the cattle from the hills, checking the calves, treating pink eye, branding and other things, then we would take the cut outs to sale in Oakdale... Oh there is no better place to be in the Summer, in the sweltering heat, then in a sale barn, full of old cowboys, and cows, and flys and wait for the herd to sell... Oh what a life...

I remember we would wake up about 4:30 ( all of "hands" would sleep on the living room floor ), the older ones would get a coffee and a coors, and we would head out to the pasture.. They were big pastures and the first horse you could get your hands on was your horse for the day.... You know, that was fun. You always had your favorite and you would always search for them.

Then you saddled them up, and loaded them in the trailer and drove out to the ranch gate to go look for the cows...

by the way, did I mention I hate cows...

Range cows are not the cute like the black and white cows you see on the side of the milk trucks. You know the one, with the bow on her head and the little skirt... No, Range cows and filthy, usually they have snot in the nose, and they smell.. my god they smell.. Once that stink gets on you, its like the bog of eternal stench, you can never get it off...

So now, your on a horse all day, rounding up all the cattle, by oh, 2-3 you have herded enough to the pens . ( the older hands go out further and bring the cattle in ), and now you load them into chutes so you can vet them...

What fun...

Big, stinky icky cow, stuffed into a chute.. usually hollering because you have split her from her calf.. ( or its the calf hollering.. either way there is plenty of hollering... ), you then, give them their shots, dr them where they need it, ear tag em and off they go... This go ons usually until 6pm.

Then you load up the horses and drive back to the ranch. Where now, the Mamma's have prepared a lovely dinner... the food.. OH my the food...So you stuff yourself, and drink yourself into a stupor, you forget the stench that surrounds you, and fall to sleep... Every bone in your body aching..

Only to wake up the next morning at 4:30 am and do it all over again..

But notice, we did not train horses.. I dont remember any of these horses being soft...
They all had full port bits, they all were ranch broke..

Until tomorrow.
LW

Day 2 - AM

2010-01-06T10:31:00.000-08:00

Had traffic court this morning so I did not get down the stables. I am planning on leaving work earlish - 4pm to get down there in time to hang out with them a bit before I go home.

Won myself a wonderful cold yesterday ( I think from being in the cold air ) and am now suffering through it. A friend at work gave me some comtrex, so we will see if that helps out.

Buck is having his clinics in April, I am planning on going to 2 of them, 1 in red bluff is the Ranch Roping and Horsemanship, and then the one the following weekend is down in LA for Cattle working and Ranch roping. Looking forward to that, but wondering if my horses are up to it...

then i started thinking, they are prob up to it, the question is I am. I know both Emma and Marhsall have never even seen cows. Marshall has seen other animals, but not cows. That might take a little while... I guess you can say I am a little bit nervous, but then again, that is horsemanship right. Doing things outside your comfort zone. Finding out where you can do better, where your horse can do better...

Its hard. I know we dont want to admit we are fearful, the unknown, what our horses may do... but I guess if you live your life afraid of doing stuff... then you will always be a timid rider.. with a timid horse...

I want to do better.. be better... I guess nothing worth having is easy... and man is this worth having.

Day 2 - Lunch

2010-01-05T14:20:00.000-08:00

What is it about horses that teaches us so much about ourselves. Horses, I think highlight our weakness, highlight our fears, highlight our emotionality.
Today I had enough time to saddle both the kids up and ride in the rounds pen. Just on the halter, nothing fancy as I have not ridden either of them since really last year... Yes...

So we get in the round pen and I get on my colt and he is feeling a little life and prances around.. and I think to myself, I am not ready for this... Crazy I know, because I know I can ride him, but since I was feeling a little sick, and not 100% I was unsure of myself, questioning myself... They are the flashlights into the dark little corners of our souls....

Of course everything was fine, but its funny to think on.

Secondly it is interesting how different Marshall is from Emma... Marshall being my baby boy can respond from my leg cues, but Emma is still wondering what the heck is going on...

When I ask Emma for a back up, I can feel her think about each move, while Marhsall is already there once I reach for the lead rope, and he has the softest feel....

It is hard for me because I have to remember to recalibrate after handling one or the other, because I can expect to much from Emma, or over handle Marshall if I dont...

Crazy kids...

It was a lovely day at the stables, Sunny, and the round pens are finally drying out, a little. :)

Day 1

2010-01-05T09:04:00.000-08:00

Today I started my first attempt at being a horsewoman. Yes I know that sounds stupid after 6 years with horses and 3 colt starting under my belt... ( I am sure that is nothing to some of you ), but to me, its alot. I know Buck said, the best thing you can do with your horse is to spend time with them... It is hard when your working a full time job, and going to school and having a home to maintain... but you know I am in this for the long haul. I Love my horses, and I love the lifestyle.. Well the Santa Cruz Horse life style is a Little different then I guess the rest of the country... but I don't think I would trade it for anything...

So today I started my News Years resolution. Spend more time with my horses, and in doing so, create a better understanding of my relationship to them. Basically what that means is I get up now at 6am and go down to the stables where my 3 horses are. They are Emma a 6 year old PMU who is just now getting started, Marshall my 4 1/2 year old mustang, and Lucy, the crazy 24 year old appendix qtr that was donated to me...

Note.. if someone offers you a free horse, run the other way.

I get down to the stable by 6:15, turn out the horses, muck them out, curry them down, and then feed. Then I get to work by 8am, and shower * yes my work has showers!* and at my desk by 8:30.... pretty sweet.. though this morning I got a sleepy start.

Today, Marshall was like who the hell are you! - He is such a pocket pony.
I know I am being weird, but he is my guy. I dont let anyone else handle him, or ride him.
The other two, who cares, but Marshall is raised, trained and loved by me... He is my horse.

I think that is important too, that a person have a horse of their own. Phooka, who is my guy, I will let other people ride, he is not as soft as Marshall... In Marshall I was able to preserve that initial softness...
Do you know what I am saying...

In a colt, just started, they have a softness... gah it is like the cream... and once you lose it, you never get it back... Marshall still has it... the rest.. I lost... well you learn don't you... !

Today I will work with Emma and Marshall on my lunch hour, ( now that they are worked out and curried out, I can actually ride them on lunch!) Will update on progress

Until then

Happy Trails!

LW