Happy Summer!

I can think of few things more summery than eating a perfectly ripe watermelon so sloppily that you get the juice everywhere.  Here's Starbuck's particular rendition of this classic summertime ritual.

Status Report

We're starting to find the rhythm of things.  I think that for now we're averaging about 2 or 3 good rides for each time I fall off which I'm OK with.  I've reached my 7 falls and am finding it harder to have a sense of humour about it, but hopefully my body's learning its lesson and at some point will get better at staying on.  The other day I fell a little harder than normal and really didn't want to get back on, luckily my fabulous instructor insisted that I climb back up there and handwalked us around for a few minutes until my legs stopped shaking.  But the other day we had another terrific lesson walking over cavaletti and threading in and out of jump standard poles at the trot.  So on the one hand I see all the bruises and back pain in my future and cringe and on the other hand, I enjoy riding Starbuck more and more every day.  I'm also feeling more confident about the scary side of the arena, we've been doing all our longeing there lately and she's starting to get much more blasé about it.  When I longe her in her halter I try to let her graze there for a few minutes at the end for a reward, so she'll see it's really a nice place if she'll give it half a chance.

I've also bumped up the amount of time at the trot I ask her for while longeing or roundpenning, making her stick it out for at least three and working up to five minutes at a time.  It's interesting for me to watch for her rebellious moments which almost always pop up when we're doing groundwork, mostly right when she starts to get a little tired or when I'm asking her to challenge herself mentally.  She does some serious teenager head tosses and speeds up and in the roundpen sometimes even gives a little kick or buck, but as long as I wait it out and ask her to change directions a few times she calms right down.

Also, giving her those massages with long heavy strokes along her spine that the vet recommended is definitely having a beneficial effect!  Where she used to move away from the saddleblanket when I would go to put it on her she now stands still and doesn't try to avoid it, and she also moves around a lot less when I cinch her up.  I think it improves our relationship too and am taking advantage of her being relaxed after her massage to really get her sacked out in the areas where she's always been a little more sensitive - udders, mouth and nose.

At any rate yesterday I dewormed her (I'm a little late this time but have decided to do it once every 4 months instead of every 3 months) - she behaved really well even though this time the worming paste was pretty nasty smelling.  And for a reward I broke out the new hay net I bought her and stuffed it with oat hay, wild fennel sprigs, freshly sickled grass (yes, we have sickles at my barn to take advantage of those hard-to-graze spots) and carob beans (there are a lot of carob trees around here and carob beans are a frequent horse treat).  She absolutely loved it and I think she had as much fun swinging the net around as she did trying to get at the yummy stuff hidden among the hay.

I have another lesson this afternoon, we'll see how it goes!

To Treat or Not to Treat...

During the past three weeks when Starbuck and I haven't been able to do much training, I've been thinking a lot about motivation.  We've been doing lots of fun stuff like grazing walks, letting her loose with her friends to run in a nearby field, equine massage and I've also been giving her extra rations of hay and alfalfa to keep her calories up for those cold winter nights.  One of the things I've done ever since the beginning with her is to hold the halter up but wait for her to take the responsibility for putting it on and lately she takes less time than ever to  stop mouthing it and stick her nose into it.

So this week when it finally dried out enough to do a little work, I decided to try something which I've never done before- start using treats to reinforce her training.  Lots of trainers I respect- Julie Goodnight is one- reject the idea of giving treats as a habit which undermines the human's "herd position" since apparently the horse can view it as "taking" the food from the person.  In the beginning way back in August I tried using treats to teach Starbuck to lift her hooves, but she got so pushy I swore off them and have been a little strict about not hand feeding her anything ever since then.

But there are also plenty of trainers, for example Linda Tellington Jones- who use treats both to reward a horse for performing a certain action or to activate the parasympathetic nervous system, overriding the "fight or flight" instinct.  And I feel like I've done a fairly good job (although we still need to work on it) of establishing  respect for my space, so I figured I might as well give it a try and see how it went.

To make sure she doesn't get pushy, what I'm rewarding her with treats for at the moment is ground-tying.  So I tell her to "wait" and put my hand up in a "stop" gesture, then walk off.  If she keeps all four feet on the ground the whole time, she gets a couple of carrot rounds, a handful of grain or I cue to her that she can graze on a particularly lush patch of grass.  It took about an hour for her to get the picture and not just follow me around but after that it seems to be working pretty well!  She's definitely more focused on me when we're working and is obviously way happier to see me-- today she downright whinnied at me when she saw me coming.  We'll see how it goes and I'll keep you posted...

Read more about treating:

• How to Treat Your Horse
• Horse Treats: A Highly Controversial Subject
• Thoughts on Hand Feeding Horses
• Hand Feeding Treats
• Teaching Your Horse Not to Bite

Thanksgiving Dinner, Equine-Style

Ah, Thanksgiving!  Time to think back on our successes this year, appreciate our lot in life, think lovingly of the people who have helped us get where we are and most of all, stuff ourselves with way too much food.  Sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, jello salad, yeast rolls, stuffing, pumpkin pie, pecan pie, mincemeat pie and the obligatory turkey and gravy... it's a good thing we only eat this way once a year!  But what about our horsey friends?  Shouldn't they be able to share this tradition of gratitude and overeating with us?

To make sure that they don't miss out on all the deliciousness I scoured the web for the best recipes to make your own horse treats.  That way they'll at least be grateful that we gave them something yummy!!!  And if your oven is too full of people food to make room for horsey stuff, have no fear: there are still plenty of "instant" treats you can give your horse that you probably have lying around your house like Ginger snaps, Grapes, Watermelon, Carrots, Lettuce, Bananas, Strawberries, Cereal, Apples, Peppermints and Sugar cubes are just a few.

DISCLAIMER: Please be sure to follow a couple of basic guidelines when feeding treats to your or anyone else's horse:

• Don't ever give a horse peanuts, cut grass or meat.
• High sugar levels can "disrupt normal digestion, exacerbate certain medical conditions, and lead to serious complications like colic and laminitis – two serious conditions that can strike any horse."  So please feed any sugar-based treats sparingly.
• Don't feed too much of any one thing too often; horses have a very sensitive digestive system.
• If you prefer not to handfeed, you can still give treats to your horse in a bucket or just on the ground.
• If your horse is being disrespectful of you trying to get at her treat, don't give it to her until she shows you some respect.

Starbuck's Savoury Bran Mash - My own recipe!

• 6 cups bran
• 2 cups pellet feed
• 1/2 cup flax seeds
• 1/2 cup garlic flakes
• 2 tablespoons rock salt
• 3 cups water

Combine all ingredients in a bucket and mix well until all ingredients are moist.  Serve immediately.

I give Starbuck this treat in her feed bucket after every workout or training session and she absolutely loves it-- the flax seed is good for her coat and hooves, the garlic is great for circulation, her immune system and keeping bugs away and the rock salt makes her thirsty and helps her body to absorb water better.

Baked Carrot Crispies - From MoniteauSaddleClub.com

• 2 carrots,shredded
• 1 apple,shredded
• 1/3 cup molasses
• 3/4 cup flower
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup water
• 3/4 cup bran
• 3/4 cup oatmeal

Preheat oven to 400 degres. Generously grease a muffin tin. MIx carrots and apples into a bowl with molasses.,bran,brown sugar,water,flour and oatmeal. Mixture should have a thick and doughy consistency. Add more bran if needed. Scoop dough into a muffnin tin,sprinkle each muffin with brown sugar and bake in the over for 30-50 minutes until well cooked

Pumpkin Surprise - From Greenhorn-Horse-Facts.com

Take a small pumpkin, cut off top and remove all insides. Be sure and get all the seeds. Fill it with grain, carrots, apples, peppermints, strawberries or whatever fruit you have on hand. Replace top and serve to your horse.

Special Bran Mash - From SherlockFarms.com

• 1 pound Dry Bran
• Boiling Water
• Molasses
• Sliced Carrots
• Apples
• Oats

Place approximately one pound of dry bran in a large bucket. Pour boiling water over the bran and stir to moisten. (A metal sweat scraper does an excellent job of this.) You can make the mash "crumbly" or quite sloppy, depending on your horse's taste. Cover the bucket with a large towel, burlap feed sack, or some leg quilts, and let the bran steam for at least fifteen minutes, until its temperature is comfortable to your fingers. Add molasses, sliced carrots and apples, oats, or Sweetfeed to taste (if you wish to soften the grains, you can mix them into the bran before adding the water). If adding, special herbs, mix them in just before serving, as any cooking might change their composition and effectiveness. Serve warm.

No-Cook Snaps - From Horse Treat Recipes

• 4 cups bran
• 4 cups applesauce

Mix ingredients. Batter should be doughy. Roll out with a rolling pin and cut shapes with cookie cutters. Let dry and serve.

Peppermint Treats - From FrontRangeFrenzy.com

• 10 crushed peppermints
• 2 cups flour
• 2 apples
• 1 cup of oats
• 1/4 cup of molasses
• water

Mix flour and oats together
Add molasses
Add water slowly until mixture is doughy
Add peppermint
Add apples
Cook at 350 degrees until golden brown