Toeing the Line

I've been doing a lot of thinking since my last few rides. As you could probably tell I was a bit frustrated. I came to some conclusions:

1. I was making everything negotiable. Moving ahead, stopping, going to places- all of it was up for discussion. I was backing down from using the crop becasue she had such a strong reaction.

2. I was letting her push me around on the ground as well- invading my space, pushing me over etc.

In short, Carmen was making far too many decisions. But, also,

3. fluttering grass and trees are truly a scary thing for her. Her prey instinct is very strong and she's very wary by nature.

4. She's very sensitive (not news, really), intelligent and learns quickly.

5. Carmen's reaction to pressure is to get away from it. So of course bolting is her response when she's not liking something or is frightened.

Based on that I made some decisions:

1. I have to crystal clear in my intentions and have the guts to back it up.

2. I can only be as firm as necessary otherwise there is no learning

3. I need to give her options other then running away.

All of it needed to start on the ground.

Tuesday I came home, changed my clothes and went to the barn. Ed had already brought them in and fed them (I was late). I put on Carmen's halter and the lunge line and we walked out of her stall and up to the ring. It was very windy. Good.

I started with leading-she was to walk beside me and stop when I did. A few times she barged ahead and I was clear that she was to back up and NOT pass. She refused to back and I tapped her smartly on her chest. We did this up to the ring.

By the time we were there she was leading perfectly. In the ring I then added in asking her to square up at the halt. If a hind leg was out I would tap it to have her bring it up. She completely ignored the taps. The horse that can feel a fly on her rump stood like a statue and did not move her leg. I realized that this had been building- she would stand there for five minutes and not move the freaking leg. I realized that she felt it was an option. So I changed it- small tap, stronger tap, WHACK (not on her leg directly I didn't want to injure a tendon but on the haunch. She would move her leg -too far of course but I was okay with that- I wanted her to MOVE. A few of those and she started moving on the second tap. Then the first, then as soon as I pointed the crop.
Clever horse- I am on to you now. 

I then went to lunging. I wanted crisp and listening transitions and she was not to fall in on me on the spooky parts. I didn't care how she felt about it, I just wanted her to go there. We lunged up and down the ring with stops in between to do in hand work. Once she slammed on the brakes and refused to go forward and I gave her snap of the whip. Another time she tried to run out and I brought her to a whoa. I can't talk her out of being wary of the waving grass and trees. But I can convince her that listening to me is far more critical.

By the end she was listening and tuned in and no more was I 'negotiating'.

It took all of 30 minutes (at the most, I really didn't have a watch on). We then grazed and I put her back in her stall.

I always do ground work before I ride but I'm going to do at least one session a week on only ground work so I'm not anxious to be sitting in the saddle.

opinionated mare

I hate Ticks

Not the most eloquant title for a blog post I know. But ticks are becoming a serious health hazard. On the weekend I noticed that my Australian Shepherd, Belle was off her food. However, it's not unusual for her to be fussy about her diet so I didn't really think much of it. Sometimes she will hold out to see if there are any better offerings. 

I was away Sunday night through Tuesday to attend  course. On Monday I recieved a text from Ed that Belle was not only not eating, she was just laying around refusing to move. He took her to the Vet's on Tuesday who found a scab from a tick bite on her neck. She also had a high fever. The vet suspected it was a bacterial infection from the tick- specifically she was thinking it was 'Anaplasmois'. They pulled blood work and it was negative but this is, apparrently, common in the acute phase of the infection. We opted to treat it anyway. If we treated for that then we should see a response in 24-48 hours. If she didn't respond then further tests would be needed. 

Belle recieved a shot of anitbiotics and then pills for follow up. By Weds morning she was much more like her old self so it looks like that was the cause. 

Last year I treated d'Arcy for Lymes and now there's another fun thing to worry about. I do check my dogs and do preventative measures but I obviously missed one. I am going to be a lot more diligent with them and with the horses.

I'm considering advancing the chicken agenda to tackle this problem.

Laying It On The Line

Let me start with an helmet update. I was successful in finding a helmet that actually fits my head- Troxel Intrepid. It took a lot of trying on but this is snug all the way around and it was very reasonably priced ($99). 

If you've been following along Carmen has been a bit of a handful lately. Saturday I had a lesson booked and was looking forward to it. The weather was warm and muggy and Carmen was pretty mellow. 

She was behind the leg so much of the lesson was spent getting her in front. What I learned was that I need to be clear that forward is required. A thing I wasn't sure about was that I was to take the inside rein and, when she gave, give it forward so that it formed a loop. I've done this in past with Irish and it worked pretty well but it seemed to confuse Carmen. I have been spending a lot of time with her on contact and flexing her to inside that giving it that much felt like throwing away. But we had some good moments and at the end I had a nice stretchy trot circle. It was a long a lesson and when we were done I was surprised that we had been working for about 90 minutes. 

Cynthia had come to ride Irish. Originally I was planning to ride again but I figured with she had worked so hard that I wouldn't do it. Instead I waited a bit and then brought her up to graze around the edges. She was happy to graze in every area -even her spooky spots. There was not one bit of concern. 

Today I wanted to ride her again. My plan was to keep the session really short - I just wanted her to be forward and soft and I was going to get off. On the ground she was calm but mentally she didn't seem to be with me. I kept working until she seemed to be tuned in and then I got on. My mistake (spoiler alert) was that I was being too 'nice' because I didn't want to work her too hard. 

I got on and we started out okay. The weather was sunny but there was a fresh breeze. As I rode she became fixated on the fluttering greenery and there was nothing that was successful in getting her attention on me. She was fighting the flexing of the inside rein. To be honest I think I taught her that it was negotiable. We had a big spook. I breathed and went back to work. We spooked again. And then again. ON the fourth one she began to spiral around and I was rapidly heading to a wreck. 

I got off and she was completely ignoring me on the ground. I put the lunge line back on and we then I proceeded to work her very hard. I had too- otherwise I was not there. I had to be the most relevant thing in her life and I needed her attention. I had her going forward and then stopping. I deliberately spooked her (e.g. by stamping my foot or waving my arm)  and repeated the actions until she stopped reacting/spooking.  When it was clear that I had her full and undivided attention I got back on. 

And it started all over again but this time I was determined that we were having our 'come to jesus moment'. I did my best to make sure that I was not overly tense or harsh but I was as hard as I needed to be in the moment and then softened when she gave me what I wanted. For example, I asked for a trot and she would pin her ears- I gave a sharp kick and a growl and when she went forward she got a 'good girl'. I was trotting her down the long side and she decided she didn't want to go by the gate and tried to evade by throwing her haunches in. Okay then, we rode haunches in down the long side. When she realized it was work I would ask her to straighten out and we carried on. When she tried to spin and launch I kept the outside rein and raised up the inside to make a wall, kicked with my inside leg and we f**&() went down the long side. When she went by and didn't try to run out on me I gave her lots of praise. 

When she was listening I stopped her and dismounted. Interestingly, I walked her to 'scary spots' and she didn't care. Somehow I have inadvertently given her the idea that when I'm on her listening to me is an option. I need to change that perspective. 

After I hosed her off and let her stand in the cross ties while I tidied up. She wanted to be out with Irish but I figured some patience was in in order. I then gave her her cookie and turned her out. she was very respectful of my space. 

I do not think that I will be looping the rein for her- I think that only confused her and that she needs the contact (not holding). She's also quite fit because after these last 3 rides I'm exhausted and she looks pretty fresh. 

Buckle Up

I was feeling pretty positive about my last ride on Miss Carmen and was looking forward to riding today. Cynthia was coming out but I wanted to start early in case we needed more ground time. She was very relaxed on the ground and good when I mounted. As we started walking Irish and Cynthia came up and I was glad to work with her on maintaining attention through LOOK IT'S IRISH! HE'S JOINING US! WE MUST STOP AND GREET HIM BECAUSE I LOVE HIM SO MUCH. 

We settled into work and then I asked for a trot and we got our sideways haunches in/half-pass move. I'm getting good at ignoring that and just riding the forward. Cynthia handed off her crop to me and all issues of forward magically disappeared just by me holding it.

You have to love magic crops.

So now that forward was established we could no longer share the air with Irish and she would swing her haunches at him and pin her ears GET OUT OF MY SPACE YOU NASTY GELDING. I HATE YOU. 

Le-sigh.

Again back to work with full attention if you don't mind. And she was attentive and forward and listening. We did a serpentine from A to C (A being the safe zone today) and it was fine. Then C to A and all was good until we hit A and something startled her in the woods (bird, brush, cat, troll? who knows) and we did a sharp 90 degree turn and a leap. Followed by another leap and a shake of her head as I tried to restrain her. By the third or fourth one I had her turned and we were trotting briskly along while poor Cynthia worked on settling Irish.

I took a deep breath and returned to work. Except now she's having none of it. None. She's DONE THANKYOUVERYMUCH. YOUCANGETOFFNOW

I, however, had a different idea- which is that we are far beyond the training being about settling in the ring and it's about working. Last year I would have tried to relax her at the walk and then asked for a trot and got off. 

Nope. 

No. 

Nah-Uh. 

Not gonna happen. 

I left A for the moment and returned to our safety zone- the centre circle and asked her to walk-trot-walk and, you know, BEND. We settled  and then left the circle. At which point she wanted to check out again. 

Nope. 

So we we circled at C (which was the danger place last night and was not-to-be-trusted this morning when we started but now was okay COMPARED TO CERTAIN DEATH AT A.  I breathed and tried to ride with my pelvis but I rode. She picked up a canter and refused to come back. There! deal with that! 

Okay then. Let us by all means canter but with bend. On a circle. 

I sat the canter and rode it. My seat and hands were soft. After 4 -5 circles I started moving the circles down the ring. At first she would speed up and I would slow her. Then she started to think that canter was not so much fun but I kept it up.  I have no idea how many circles were were doing as we slowly spiralled down the ring. She tried to slam on the brakes at R but I gave a pony-club kick and we kept going. When she would try to take off I would do a strong half-halt and then release - at least the inside rein, I kept a hold of the outside rein but would relax my hands. 

Finally we were cantering DOWN AT A. On a circle, with bend and not freaking out. I brought her to trot, and walk and then halt. Right at A. Then I dropped the reins. 

She breathed and looked around. I could see her thinking about it and then deciding never mind.

We then walked and cooled out down at A. I kept my seat calm and my hands soft but we were walking around that circle. I then hopped off. She was hot and sweaty and tired. Good. So was I. I hosed her off and she enjoyed the cool water. I made sure to hose her legs well.  

Every time I ride I always try to figure out what the best thing is to do in this moment. I  know that what I did sounded harsh but I need Carmen to figure out that working with me is the answer and, while she can make her feelings known, it's not her call. I understand that her prey instinct is strong but I need her to transfer that to me. 

I have a lesson tomorrow and we shall see if I made the right call. 

Resilience

Spring is bursting out all over. The combination of rain and warmer temperatures has caused the trees to leaf out. Two weeks ago most of the trees were bare and now they are covered in beautiful young leaves. Leaves that flutter and create dancing shadows.

Last week in my lesson Karen spoke to me about resilience. Basically she said that Carmen was probably always going to spook some times. The goal is to recover quickly and get back to work. To practice being resilient. You don't get to be on this planet for over 50 years without having lots of opportunities to practice being resilient. Transferring that to riding is doable. So when I've been riding I keep that in mind. Overall she's continuing to be markedly calm. She's also being quite affectionate.  But she's still Carmen so there's a streak of the dramatic in her.

This morning was cloudy and foggy but  by the time I came home from work the sun was shining and it was warm. I changed into my riding clothes and got Carmen ready. She was fine in the barn but when we walked up to the ring she gave a big spook at the trees.
Those weren't like that last time! 
I know but we'll be fine. 

I spent my time with the ground work before I got on. She was definitely on guard but I kept in mind my goals to be calm, confident and controlled. It's funny how pretending to be those things helps you to actually be that way. I'm also way better when I have an active thing to practice rather than a passive thing. I felt pretty good about schooling her. Which was good. As we worked away she was being a bit dramatic about things - trotting sideways rather than forward and wanting to stop to poop. but I had picked up the crop at the start so when she stopped I gave her a tap. Two taps later and she walk-trotted off while pooping. Then got annoyed and tried to kick at my leg and gave a buck.

Spanish mares do dramatic very well.

spanish dancer

see the resemblance?

I carried on and she settled back into work. We started trotting up towards troll corner when she gave a series of leaps sideways. But I was prepared and stayed with her. 

RUN AWAY

no

WE MUST FLEE

no we mustn't 

I HATE YOU

It will be fine

My heart was racing with that the leaping but I stayed focussed and didn't freak out over what might happen but rode what was happening. When she finally stopped the leaping about I took a deep breath. 

Okay, now let's practice that resilience thing

I realized that at the show I will likely need to deal with this so it's good to practice now. The issue, for Carmen, was that the leaves and grasses were fluttering in the breeze and, because of the time day, were throwing shadows that also were fluttering. 

I didn't stay in that corner but worked through the whole ring. I didn't get the practice everything that I had planned initially but used this opportunity to get and keep her focussed on me no matter what. At times she was less than impressed with this but each time settled a bit quicker and there was no more leaping about. 

When I finished she was sweaty and really enjoyed being hosed off. I put her in her stall and gave her supper. When she finished she was dozing in her stall but wanted to have her face scratched. I rubbed between her eyes while her ears were at half mast and her eyes were soft. I believe that she appreciates that I am in charge even if she wants to negotiate the moment. 

We're getting there. 

Carmen Rocks It

If you recall, last Sunday Carmen was spooky, jumpy and reactive. I had a few people recommend Magnesium - Dancing Donkey wondered if she was lacking magnesium and my vet said that it seemed to work for some horses. With nothing to lose I picked up some Quiescence to try. It contains Magnesium Oxide, Magnesium Proteinate and Chromium Piccolinate. If she didn't need it her body would eliminate it. I figured at the worst I had ensured that Carmen had very expensive pee. I started her on Sunday.

As you know I had a successful lesson on Wednesday with Carmen being calmer than she had been lately. With the boost in my confidence  I've ridden three times since my lesson.

Friday was with Cynthia and Irish. Carmen was very good. She was a bit tight to start but worked out and we had a nice schooling session. After we pulled the tack off and left them to eat the grass growing around the edge of the ring. When we came back to get them she met me at the gate but not in an anxious way, more like a 'oh hi. there you are' way

Saturday was hot and sunny. I brought Irish into the barn. Usually Carmen is stuck to him like a foal to a mare. This time I put Irish in his stall and turned around to see Carmen slowly sauntering towards us from across the field. In the aisle I had her standing there while I groomed her. She exuded mellowness. Ed came in, gave her a pat and then went out. All of a sudden there was a loud noise as he started the snowblower (maintenance)- it backfired and sputtered and roared. Carmen was madly interested but never moved a hoof. Ed came back and said 'Im sorry, did I startle her?"
Me:'nope. she never moved'
Ed looked at her. 'She's really changed, she's not even moving!'

In the ring she kept her mellow nature. Our groundwork session was very short. There was no need to work our way into parts of the ring she was willing from the beginning. She spooked once but it was a normal horse spook, not an 'OHMYGODWE'REGONNADIE" spook.  If I had to describe her over all it would be 'LAZY'. Which was a new thing for us -especially since it was quite blustery.  I had to pick up the crop and tap her to get her moving. Once we got that she was fine. She was struggling with her left lead canter but that is not new. Our right lead is much better so I started with that to help her get her balance. After a good right lead canter I let her walk out and then said "okay, we're going to tackle that left lead canter. All I want is for you to try to stay bent and balanced and not freak out about it" I got a nice trot and then asked for the canter. She picked it up as nice as you please. We did one nice circle and I brought her back to trot-walk-halt and hopped off.

Total time in the ring was 45 minutes.

Today (Sunday) was cloudy and cool (it's raining now). I brought Irish in to the barn but when I turned around I couldn't even see Carmen. I checked her stall to see if she snuck by me. Nope. I walked out and she was cropping grass on the other side of the field. She looked at me innocently.
Are you coming? 
*sigh* I guess so. She moseyed to the barn and entered her stall. Again she was mellow in the barn but less mellow in the ring (of course by now I have a new definition. Two weeks ago I would have checked for a pulse). I've been working on ensuring that she's tuned into me at all times. We did our ground work and she was listening. I mounted and she was teetering on the edge of being tense. I calmed myself and we went to work. She was definitely more looky and potentially spooky but I remembered my lesson and made sure that I was riding every stride and ensuring that she remained flexed to the inside. There were places where that was a bigger discussion. I matched her level of resistance- if I asked her to bend inside and she took the bit and turned to the outside to look at whatever I was insistent. We didn't look so pretty but after doing that twice when I asked softly she came right to me. Because of that we only had a few easy spooks. One big one when Chester popped out of the grass but we rebounded and carried on.

As we were schooling she began to get a bit pissy. I realized that she was tired and figured it was time to stop. Of course we didn't. I have ridden school horses for years. Horses that are not so keen to keep working hard is well within my wheel house. I was asking her to leg yield from the rail to the quarter line and then back. According to her highness I was allowed to ask for leg yields just one way. This idea of leg-yielding-straightening-leg yielding the other way was ridiculous and not to be borne. I growled at her a bit and she gave up and actually listened rather then having a dramatic hissy fit. And then I stopped.

Total time in the ring was at least an hour, possibly longer as I hadn't checked.

After I hosed her off and she was enjoying the cool stream of water. She likes to put her muzzle in the stream. this time she filled her bottom lip with water and then flipped it so it went down into my bra.
hey! I yelled
Carmen looked at me innocently but with a gleam in her eye 'oh sorry, you looked sweaty I was trying to help you cool off' 

I don't know what percentage of this new horse is my work and the supplement but I'll take it. I will do a test to see if her behaviour changes when I take her off but I'll probably wait until after the show.

once we get our stuff together our canter pirouettes will be lovely

Good Grief

It started with me posting a photo on FB.

It was this one from the clinic last weekend:

My friend, Holly is part owner of a Tack Shop. She sent me a message that went something along the lines of "I love you but you need to get a new helmet. Your western style helmet does not go with your stunning Spanish Mare" 

And she's right. My helmet is aging and it needed to be replaced. However, that is easier said then done. I have learned to dread helmet shopping almost as much as saddle shopping.

Today I was at a one day labour conference. These are useful but when I'm at one of these I drink far too much coffee and enjoy too many pastries (apple strudel with chopped walnuts, scones, muffins, sigh). At lunch time I ran out and drove to Holly's shop. I knew she was away at a show but thought I would see what they have.

Can I help you? says this nice young lady. I smiled at her hopefully.  I need a helmet, Holly sent me. 

But, I said I am very difficult to fit. You see I have this weird shaped head. 

She looked at me and smiled. I've heard that before  said that smile. Just leave it with me. 

I tried on my first helmet- too much room on the sides and too tight front to back. Fast forward 20 minutes, numerous helmets and many experiments with padding adjustments and this lovely young lady is no longer looking quite so optimistic. I can see her silently agreeing that I do, indeed, have a weird shaped head. She truly did all she could- we had opened tried all the available options.

I believe that my head is large front to back and medium side to side. 

"I'm sorry" she says "Maybe when Holly is back she can help you" 

I returned to my conference just as they were starting back up. Lunch was put away which I figured was fine since I had eaten far too much already. But I saw that there were still desserts left so I grabbed on to drown my sorrows. Since there was no lunch there's not much I could do about it is there?

If anyone has suggestions for helmets made for weird shaped heads and do not require me to sell a kidney in order to afford it, please let me know!