Transformations: Clinic Recap Day 1

Oh my god. I had the best weekend. It was fun, amazing and full of learning (and soooo much food).

Let me go back. This weekend Carmen, Irish, Julia and I went to a Johanna Beattie Batista clinic. I have done at least one every year and Carmen and I always make gains. This time Julia wanted to come. She could only ride on Sunday but came out to audit on Saturday.

Friday we hit the road around 9:30. Other than running into road construction it was an uneventful journey. Carmen came off the trailer like a pro. Irish was much more 'up' about the whole thing. I settled them in their stalls for a bit while I unpacked and then I put them out in a paddock to stretch their legs.

Carmen was all 'oh, okay. it's not bad but it needs more grass'
Irish was OH MY GOD, WHERE ARE WE? WHAT'S GOING ON? Do we live here now? Who's that over there? 

I had packed my training 'toys' (flag, plastic bag and clappers) with me. Before our ride I brought her into the arena and we worked through our patterns. She was awesome- totally unconcerned about the arena or Irish screaming his head off outside (even though there were other horses. I thought about brining him in but figured he would be worse in a stall).

I tacked her up and began to warm up waiting for Johanna. Honestly, by now it's all a blur. Carmen was relaxed, mostly, but not completely because she was walking very fast and it was hard to rate her.

Truthfully, I am used to balking Carmen and spooking Carmen. Speedy Carmen was a new kettle of fish. So much of the lesson was about helping Carmen to go slow without pulling on the reins. We started off with a lot of bending getting her to do shoulder in. The idea is to connect her back to front.  You can see int he video that, while she is tight, she is also trying really hard to pay attention to me. Rather than it being 'go away!' she was more like this is really hard, are you sure? Okay, I'll try. 

And it slowly paid off. Johanna is a Level 2 Centered Riding Instructor and working on her Level 3. She stopped me at one point and did an adjustment to my hip and bam! my legs were right where they were supposed to be.

It was wonderful to be able to work on loose joints and a following seat.

a blurry screen shot but I love the moment it captured

Near the end we cantered and it was so uphill and, well, fun.

I need to get my hand more in front but still....

One thing that Johanna helped me to see was that I didn''t need to take any 'sass' from Carmen. She was periodically yanking on the rein. I thought it was my fault but it turns out that she was just taking advantage. Once I gave myself permission to correct her for things, everything became much better.

As we worked she became softer and softer. Contrast this shoulder in to the one earlier in  the ride:

We found a spot to end it and I was so happy. Not once did she spook. A couple times she got a little tense and worried, but responded right away to me asking her to soften. At the end of the ride I ask Johanna is she saw improvement from last year.
Oh yes, 1000 percent!  she exclaimed and I was so happy. Carmen meanwhile was relaxed and ready to go relax.

Working for a Living

taken a few years ago at our local fair

So this is a topic that has been percolating in my head for a long time. Today I heard a news story that caused me to put my thoughts into words.  You can read the story here: Time to pull in the reins on horse-and-buggy trade, says advocate.  This town is about 20 minutes from me. Ed and I go there all the time. Lunenburg is a Unesco World Heritage site with a rich history of fishing. Many of the homes are over 100 years old.

you should totally visit if you haven't been. 

This is not a new topic. I've been following stories on this for New York and Montreal carriage horses. (on a side note, are these same people agitating to stop the Amish from driving carriages?).

 I honestly believe that people are well meaning.

I also believe that they are misinformed and probably naive.

The truth is that I have zero issues with horses (or dogs) working. The idea that these animals are abused because they are working animals  is poor logic.  In this case it was triggered because of an accident that happened with the horses. It's the third time in 20 years. There are far more car accidents in Lunenburg (honestly, parking and driving there is a bit tricky in the summer. I think they'd be better off banning vehicles).

horse logging is a still a thing in my area.
It is a very environmental practice

Humans work (well most of us). Why do we object to animals working? Is it that  there is  a lack of choice that is missing? It's not like german shepherds apply to the police force or a horse dreams of pulling a wagon through Lunenburg. So I get it. I also know that my BC d'Arcy assigned himself tasks. Some animals need a job.  And while we're on the subject, not everyone gets to choose their job or career either.

To mean the lack of choice means that it's up to us to make sure that the animals are well cared for and not subjected to unfair work conditions.

Of course that's the rub, isn't it? To me, seeing a horse pull a carriage through a town seems like a wonderful way to see things and to remember the history. Others may see the horses standing in the sun and believe that they are suffering.

It's a slippery slope. I am sure that the activists believe that the horses could be gamboling joyufully in fields. The truth is that some of them might be. Most will not. They will end up in situations where they are working elsewhere or to slaughter. Lots of lovely horses end up in slaughter, it's a reality.

frolicking horses

I also know that a horse that is not being exercised can age a lot more quickly then those in some work.  Where are we in society that 'working' seems to be a bad thing? It's seems a very 'first world problem.'

in Cuba the people and the horses work very hard

I have seen work horses up close my whole life. They seem to be like horses everywhere: some are happy, some are grumpy, most are quiet. None of them seem to be miserable. 

horses pulling a sleigh on a heritage farm

this guy seemed happy with his job and his owner was very good

Also, what is your definition of work?

Is this work?

Or this?

How about this: 

Maybe this? 

I think that our thoughts of horses running free and wild is a lovely, romantic and impractical ideal.  Wild horses (like most wild animals) do not die kind, easy deaths. They starve, are injured or brought down by predators.

It is our responsibility to take care of them. And I am being 100% honest when I say that I believe very few people would or could keep horses are pets. Yes it happens and I think that in many cases those horses are very very lucky. Irish is basically retired and will be with me for the rest of his life, even when no one can ride him. And when the time comes I will do my best to make his death as painless and stress-free as possible.

It is a slippery slope and we need to be careful. I wish that the people agitating to stop horse carriages would put their energies into stopping true abuse: like soring of  Tennessee Walking horses.

So that's my 2 cents (and probably worth less than that). What do you think of horses 'working'?

Lesson Recap with Media

Shanea had to be on the road the next morning by 9 so we arranged for the lesson to be at 8. I set my alarm so I'd have time for chores and coffee. At 7:30 I was getting Carmen tacked up. The air was cool but it meant that the black flies were still dormant.

I did a little groundwork and then hopped on. Carmen felt pretty mellow and a bit behind the leg. This is new territory for me: dealing with lazy Carmen. So I opted for alternating  my legs in time with her walk to get her to take longer strides. It worked really well- she stretched out without protest.

We were heading down into the far corner when I felt her suck back. I looked up and saw a sparrow on the ground in the corner.
Me: Oh look it's a sparrow looking for food.
Carmen: looks suspicious to me
Me: when we get closer he will fly off.
Carmen: maybe. Or maybe he will attack. 

We walked closer and he flew off.

Me: See.
Carmen: yes, I scared him off. 
Me: you were very brave. 
Carmen: I know. *arches neck and prances through corner*

super brave warhorse fending off small (but vicious) song birds

Shanea wanted us to work on suppling and bend. The exercise was to flex lightly to the inside, then straight, then to the outside. Sounds easy but it is actually very tricky because it ask the horse to be soft and following. Bending the whole neck is, in many ways, easier than just at the poll/jowl.  

We started at the walk. As we got better Carmen began to really swing through her back. It felt awesome. We picked up a trot and worked on it. The most tricky part was keeping the rhythm so that she didn't interpret the leg aid as 'speed up' instead of 'bend'. Here's a short video of us trying to stay straight. I like it because it shows the effect of the half-halt on bringing her back. I love how soft over her back she is: 

We worked on walk-trot-walk transitions. Her up transitions are coming along really nicely: she's pushing from behind and staying in contact. Our downs need some work: we tend to plow down onto the forehand and lose all impulsion. I need to sit up, keep my legs on to support the idea of a forward transition (also don't hold or throw away my hands).  I don't know if it's in any of the clips but a few times Shanea had to tell me to shorten my inside  (left) rein. I have to appreciate the irony of that because for a long time she was telling me to let go of it.

 So that's progress. Sort of. I guess. Right? 

From there we went on to practice some lengthens. This is the first time I've been able to work on them in months and I was excited. They were nothing to write home about in terms of actual dressage lengthens. But she was really trying and stayed pretty relaxed over her topline so I was over the moon. The stretch will come out of that. In the past she would tighten and then fling her legs, speed up and then dump on the forehand. I need to sit up and keep my shoulders up to help her and also not stiffen. 

Despite these not being anything too spectacular, working on this really helped her get her trot refined

When she gave me a really good try with the lengthen I brought her back to a walk and gave her lots of praise. Shanea got after me, not for giving her a reward, but for the horrible transition. We did a couple more and then there was this really nice one and on that we gave her a break to chat about it.

Then Shanea said that we were going to do a few minutes of canter. Normally I would have stopped there but it seemed to me that Carmen would be okay with going back to work and asking for just a bit more. Turns out I was right.

Our canter to the left was way better. I managed to get a screen shot of the moment of transition:

left hand, what are you doing? 

It was a way better transition then the photo above indicates:

To the right was stiffer and had less flow. That is not unusual for us. But in the end it came nice and through. And then we stopped.

I loved this lesson. The sun was shining, there were no bugs and the air was fresh. I loved being able to work on actual dressage stuff. And best of all I loved that through the whole ride Carmen and were having a conversation. No one lost their marbles. No one got cranky. We just worked together towards a common goal.

It felt like a partnership.

And I've worked very hard to get here. 

Endorphins

Earlier this week I was struggling with feeling depressed. Now, in full disclosure, I've been prone to depression off and on my whole life. When I feel like this I stop and look at my life and see if there's any 'reason'. Usually there is not. Not that there isn't stress or things but my life is pretty good.

What has been going on is the weather. Honestly, it's been rainy, and cold. Or sunny and windy and cold. It's officially the worst spring I remember. It means that I'm not outside much and I really need to be outside. I have been getting frustrated with not being able to do things with the horses. Not so long ago I would have ridden anyway. Maybe I'm becoming a fair weather rider but, to be honest, I don't see the point of riding when the weather is bitter cold and the wind is trying to rip your clothes off.

so much rain

After a cold and bitter Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, the weather finally improved on Thursday. Julia met me and we both had a good ride. I noticed that right after, I no longer felt depressed. I felt happy and relaxed and peaceful.

Friday we both had lessons booked with Shanea. But the weather was, yet again, cold and rainy. Like torrential rain. I convinced Shanea to come anyway with promises of supper and a bed so she could do her teaching on Saturday. Ed was sure we were crazy but he cooked a lovely dinner anyway. The rain did indeed stop so we decided to do a joint lesson rather than 2.

Carmen was a bit perturbed, after all she prefers to nap post-supper while waiting for night feed. But she was pretty good anyway and humoured me. When I mounted she was forward and a bit looky but nothing too major.

Irish was a bit wired but I didn't think too much about it. Then the neighbours brought their steers down the road.

And Irish lost his ever loving mind.

he's a sweet horse and can also be real dick at times

Carmen was a bit over the top too but managed to keep it together. I thought about dismounting but she would freeze, stare and then come right back to me. Julia and rode on a circle at the far end and then I moved away to the middle circle. My goal was just to keep her relaxed and forward. She was really coming along, then I heard 'WHOA WHOA WHO'.

I looked up to see Irish having a complete and utter hysterical melt down. I watched Shanea grab the reins and he started to run backwards, trying to rear and hitting the fence. I could picture him and Julia flipping over backwards down the hill. I halted Carmen and jumped off.

 I gave her to Shanea and then went up to Irish and Julia. You see, I have had Irish since he was 3 (he's 19 now) and I know this horse. And I knew exactly what he needed. I grabbed the inside rein and asked him to move forward, directing Julia to kick him forward. He circled around and then I switched direction. After a few circles, I let go and had her take him out farther.

What Irish needs when he's like this is to move. There is no settling him to be quiet, he has to go out and move his butt until his brain falls back in. He began to settle into the work. Not totally settled- he looked very much like a llama.

I looked back at Carmen who was standing beside Shanea with her hind leg cocked and half asleep. 

I think that you need to give this lesson to Julia I said. And I'm happy with what Carmen has done so I'm not going to get back on. But I won't leave, because that would cause even more chaos. 

Shanea agreed that Julia needed the attention. So while they worked I took Carmen out and we practiced our ground patterns, stopping periodically to do absolutely nothing (I have taken  a page out of Linda's book). 

Carmen seemed to enjoy us 'playing'. When I felt 'done' I brought her down to watch Irish and Julia. I decided to take her bridle off and thought I could do it while keeping on her rope halter (which is how  I work with her). Turns out I can't do that and everything ended up tangled (Cynthia is rolling her eyes right now and saying that she's not surprised). So I ended up taking everything off. Carmen stood there while I untangled everything and put her halter back on. She never moved a muscle (but she might have sighed at her inept servant). I then let her over and let her graze around the outside of the ring. 

In the meantime, Julia had Irish's brains back and they had some lovely work. Not that he ever really got over the idea that the cow's went down the road and never came back!' I am assuming that they moved them to the field for the summer. 

I was so incredibly proud of Carmen. She handled everything and I loved that she was the 'good one' even with all the shenanigans. And my depression appears to be gone. 

And I arranged for Shanea to teach me early the next morning before she had to leave. But that's a different post because this one is far too long. 

this is Irish staring at where the cows are.
Carmen is clearly concerned. 

Spring is Expensive

Here's a blog post on the theme of 'Horses are expensive'.

Shocking I know.

When I was looking at properties with the aim of bringing Irish home my real estate agent asked me if I was looking to run a lesson or boarding barn. My answer was a resounding 'no'.

I still make the same expression, just not as cute

'I thought you might be looking to make money' he said.
Well, do you know how to make a million dollars with horses? I asked
'No' he said looking intrigued.
'Start with 2 million' I deadpanned.
He looked at me and then started to laugh. Ed looked worried though.

Fast forward and I have my horses at home. I love it. It likely saves me some money.

Spring is really hard on the bank account. There's vaccines, teeth floating, memberships etc.

this is how Ed deals with this time of year

Lessons also start up and I start to travel to places.

not fancy wheels, but mine

I love owning my own trailer. In some ways it's less expensive then paying someone. Although, because I have access to it I probably go to far more many places then I would without it. So maybe it's a wash.

All in all, there are a lot of costs that all happen in spring that can make it seem that the money is flying out faster then it is coming in.


I would consider that we fit pretty solidly in the middle class. Which means that I do have some discretionary income.

But I'm not a bottomless pit.

Sometimes that means I have to make choices. I don't weigh things based purely on price but, I can't do everything.

And I'm pretty much okay with it.

Although I wouldn't mind having more money, I'm pretty happy with the things I have. And what would I spend my money on anyway? Clothes? Travel? Fancy homes?

I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Soft Touch

Soft is strong, clear is kind~ Nikki Porter

This weekend Carmen and I headed out for our first big event of the season- an 'Ultimate Trail Clinic' by Mike and Nikki Porter. This is the third one of these I have done (recaps here and here). I quite enjoy doing these and so does Carmen.

This time it was Murphy's stable. I had never been there but it turned out to be a lovely place- nicely laid out and easy to navigate. I was impressed with her stall. As a bonus, I got to stay with Paula who audited some of it as well. We arrived friday late afternoon and I got her settled. Part of which included walking her around and doing some ground work in the indoor.

Carmen: why am I here?what's going on? Do you have carrots?

As always we started the clinic with telling our horse's 'story' and our goals for the clinic. There were a lot of people who had done this before and some who show regularly. It was fun to watch them. My goals were quite simple: I wanted Carmen be calm and confident in this new environment. The arena was a coverall with an opening at the far end. Something that she really struggles with. It was also raining. I was excited by all this because it would give me a chance to work her through these things in a supportive way.

I started with Carmen at the far end and we worked on our ground work to get her relaxed and settled. I was super impressed how it well it worked for her in this new place. She was doing really well keeping her focus on me despite the many other horses, people and things going on outside. I was playing with her being tuned into my body by backing, yielding hindquarters and forequarters depending on my language. It felt like a waltz. Once, I was asking her to back and she was distracted by something outside. I asked soft, then a bit harder and then I gave her a sharp tug on the halter and she backed up. Nikki came over (I didn't even know she was watching) and said 'was that a fair increase in pressure? 
Yes I answered.
Why?
Because she was paying no attention to me at all, just going through the motions. I increased up high and then dropped right back. If she had been worried about things behind her or unsure, I wouldn't have been so sharp but she was choosing to focus on outside. I think of it like calling her name. 

That makes sense. Most times I ask people and they don't even know how quickly they escalated. 

Fair, I said, look at Carmen and she wasn't worried that I was unfair. (Carmen was standing there quietly, looking at me).

This is one of the things I love about Mike and Nikki. They have tons of knowledge and share it in an open and inclusive manner. They will listen to you and take into account your knowledge (and knowledge of your horse). I hate when clinicians act like you know nothing. They do not, even if it's true that you know nothing.

Carmen: I've totally got this

In the afternoon they set up the obstacles for us to practice in hand. Carmen clearly remembered what was required of her.  She was super cute with the swinging doors. When she went through pushing them open on her own she looked quite pleased with herself. She was also a hit with some of the spectators who thought she was beautiful (clearly people with good taste).

In between the sessions I made sure to take Carmen out to walk her around and eat some grass. I would be lying if I said I wasn't worried about her gut health. I had brought some pre and pro biotic, aloe vera juice and some bi carbonate. I have no idea if any of my things worked but she seemed to be okay.

The next morning I brought her into the arena before anyone was there to let her stretch her legs.

Carmen: you can't see me. 

She wove in and around the obstacles. Funny story: in the video below  you can see the moving platform. At one point, she looked at me, picked up a trot and sailed over it with lovely jumping form. She then trotted off looking really pleased with herself. I laughed 'wrong kind of clinic darling'

We started at 8:30 in the morning with the horses tacked up but in halters. Everyone was to work with their horse from the ground and then get on when they felt ready.  Carmen felt ready pretty quickly. Nikki came up to me and said We know that she likes and understands the obstacles. From what you said it seems to me that the 'work' for you is schooling around them and getting her to listen, using the obstacles as the reward. Which was awesome because that was my thought as well.

As soon as I mounted Carmen turned from self-confident to worried. I am no longer bummed by this. It is simply a transition point for us and what I'm working on. Tristan does talk about this quite explicitly. He says that horses that have a long history of spooking under saddle can take a while before they have the same confidence as with the ground work (or something like that).

Anyway, as soon as we started riding around it was clear that Carmen was most worried about a tarp bag in one corner, the observation lounge, a board leaning against the wall and what was going on outside. It sounds like a lot, I know but it wasn't too bad.

I just worked her through it, helping her to walk up and past things that were 'worrisome' and rewarding her when she did. I gave her rein to stretch into and, while I did use my aids, I didn't try to hold her super tight or strong.

A young woman (I forget her name) was practicing roping and Carmen was like 'oh my god'. She said 'sorry' and I said, 'no, keep going. this is why we're here'. Carmen watched and when she asked to go forward to check it out I let her.  The woman was really nice and dragged it letting Carmen 'chase' it. After that she felt a lot more confident.

Carmen: 'are you going to rope me lady?'
Also, look at my free rein. 

The narrow platform to the octagon caused the most difficulty. She wanted to hurry over it. A woman named Lorraine came and asked if she could help me (see how lovely everyone is?). I welcomed her assistance and she coached us through going one step at a time. This is valuable for us because Carmen and I both tend to rush though things that we're not confident about. 

Carmen: I don't know what you're talking about,
I'm doing it perfectly

We went through the water trough a couple times and then she marched right up to the large tarp bag in the corner and stuck her nose on it. It's interesting how these things make her brave. 

The car is her favourite:

At the end, Nikki was admiring how well Carmen was doing and I asked her if she wanted to try Carmen out. She hopped on without much persuading and both of them looked lovely together. And that is where we left it. 

I was really happy with how Carmen handled the distractions of the clinic. As I watched other people my thoughts kept percolating about the best thing to do. You see we were supposed to ride again in the afternoon in a 'mock show'.  But it felt to me that Carmen had done everything I asked of her and that we really had nothing more to prove. My goals were to have her stay calm and have a good experience. We had that. If I rode int he afternoon I worried that she might feel overwhelmed and tired. 

 I let that thought work it's way around my brain for a while. I wanted to make sure that it wasn't because I was tired.But it stayed with me so at lunch I approached Nikki and told her that we wouldn't be riding in the afternoon. I explained why and she agreed with me. She would have supported me to ride again but I think she wanted to support me in making decisions in terms of Carmen's well-being.

So, instead of riding I cleaned everything up and we headed out early. Carmen was quite happy to be home and in her field. It's easy to second guess decisions but I am not going to do that this year (or not much). My goal is to have Carmen confident and relaxed and that is going to be the lens I use in making decisions.

For our first overnight outing, I'm calling this a success. 

Transitions

Spring continues to be elusive. It's a real downer.  I swear if we have one more cold rainy day I am going to look into moving to sunnier climes.

Surprisingly, the grass is growing anyway. Which is good because Irish is real wing nut when it comes to grass.  I have started to transition them on to the back pasture. In the front paddock that I let them winter in, the grass is also coming in but much less.  This helps, so that they are not starting with nothing.

My approach is to let them over to the back field before supper and continue to back it up. Starting this certainly lets me know how aware they horses are of where I am, despite seeming to be oblivious.

cold but still able to eat grass

I come out of the house and walk behind the barn. The horses are in the field with their backs to me. When I come out the other side of the barn they are standing at the gate. Oh Hai.  It's amazing how they can be like silent and speedy ninjas.

Irish always drop weight this time of year, because he refuses to eat any hay. Preferring to seek out any stray blades of grass.

The other day I took Carmen out for a ride. Irish decided that I was taking them for grass. When that didn't happen he pitched a complete and total tantrum: kicking, squealing, bucking etc.

Carmen: is he okay?
Me: yes. Sort of. He's just being a jerk because he wants grass. 
Carmen (hopeful voice):  does that work? 
Me: No
Carmen: *sigh* I figured as much. *shrugs* seems like a lot of work anyway. 

By this weekend they will be over there for the day and things will calm down.

On a happy note, Carmen continues to be a star. Today there was an ATV zooming up and down the road, backfiring occasionally. She was a little worried at first but then forgot about it and settled into work.

after the ride, so very mellow

This weekend we're heading off to a Trail Clinic. It should be a ton of fun. If you are in the Hantsport area stop on in at Murphy's Stable. We'll be there.