Leaps and Bounds

Look at those pricked ears!  We sure do love being out and about :-)

Rode Starbuck again on Wednesday and it went just as well as Tuesday, we did some exercises attempting to lengthen / shorten strides at the canter between two ground poles.  So if you have two poles about 15-20 yards apart, and you canter between them counting strides and you end up with say 5, then the next time you try to squeeze 6 in, or you can lengthen your stride to try to get 4.  I find this exercise really difficult, especially since with the bit I was hesitant to use the reins as much as I normally would.  But I really enjoy it because it forces me to be rhythmic (we count the strides out loud and it seems silly but you pay way more attention to rhythm that way) and to really think hard about and try to visualize what I want Starbuck to do.

This "thinking" thing is a concept Marina introduced me to and that seemed like a bunch of hippie bunk at first but I find really works.  She regularly tells students on nervous horses "don't give any leg aids, just think "canter".  And I remember I was trotting with Starbuck for the second or third time and she said "think about her hind legs, visualize them coming further forward".  And what do you know, she started tracking up!  There was a horse at the beginning of the 19th century called "Clever Hans" who could do math - I mean pretty complicated arithmetic.  His handler would ask him say "What is six times seven divided by three" and Hans would tap his hoof 14 times.  And it wasn't just his handler - other people could ask him and damned if he didn't get the answers right something like 90% of the time.  So there were a bunch of trials and finally figured out that if the handler knew the answer to a question, so did Hans.  But if the handler didn't know the answer, Hans didn't either.  He was watching for the near invisible building up of tension in his handler as he tapped and its involuntary release when he reached the right number.  I think that horses are so sensitive to body language that they can really tell when we think "whoa", "canter" or even "make your stride go upwards instead of forwards".

But all this is easy to forget, especially when you're busy thinking "heels down, shoulders back, hips forward, hands still, thumbs up, shit someone's coming out of the bar, knees open, calm down Starbuck, breathe deep...".  And this exercise gives you 20 yards to put your full attention on "ONE, upwards, TWO, slower, THREE, upwards, FOUR, don't trot, don't trot!, FIVE, oh shit the pole".  And OK, we're not very good at it and we didn't ACTUALLY work in 6 canter strides without a stray trot stride, but we very nearly did and we both felt at the end of the class like we'd really worked hard and accomplished something.

Friday I lent Starbuck to my friend Virginia whose mare Coco is recovering from a booboo and can't be ridden at anything but a walk, and I rode Marina's lesson pony Vent ("Wind" in Mallorquín) without any stirrups for the whole lesson to work on my seat.  Which went very well except for the very end when I decided to try a jump - between the no stirrups thing and the fact that we took the jump from way too far off (still not very good at judging distances) I ended up making a crash landing.  But still proud of making it through the whole hour of walk - trot - canter without stirrups.  Virginia had a little trouble at the canter with Starbuck (I'm used to riding with very little contact and Virginia as an experienced dressage rider is used to using more) but schooled her very nicely in the lateral movements which is a huge help to me - I'm still not 100% sure when she's really crossing her legs or just scrunching her neck around and faking it.

And today we had a lovely morning lesson with markedly improved shoulder-ins and leg yielding and some very nice, fluid jumping from Starbuck, followed by an even lovelier hack out through the blossoming almond tree groves.  Starbuck for the most part behaved very well and only got a little worried a couple of times (mostly about the footing since the land had just been plowed and was very soft) and I was able to ride her along the tiny (like 300 yards) stretch of rural highway we have to go along and across, which is great because the last time I had to get off and walk with her.

The only negative issue to report is that I noticed this morning after our ride that the bit is apparently pinching the corners of her mouth because she had some sore spots there, so I'm going to add some bit guards and see if that helps things.

So all in all a terrific week filled with progress, fun and an object lesson in not being so reckless just to prove to myself and others I'm no chicken.

Heartbeats

Thanks to ChestOfBooks.com for the image!

Starbuck and I had a very good groundwork session today-- the footing in the roundpen was finally more or less dry and it was a bright sunny day (albeit super windy).  But most of all we just had a really solid connection today. I've been working on using non-verbal cues for transitions (using first my focus, then body language, then stepping up the body language and finally accompanying the body language with a verbal cue if none of the above works).  The idea is that instead of her having to learn to speak my language, I try to "speak" hers.  Today I didn't have to use any words at all, she was tuned in enough to me to follow my lead!

I also have been accompanying her when roundpenning by walking about 4 feet away from her as she goes around the pen - the first few times we tried it she freaked out a little and didn't like me so close to her while she was working.  I think she must have seen it as micromanaging at first, but she's now realized that it's just something we do sometimes and today did really well.  At first she tried to veer away from the fence towards me, but I flicked the string of my whip at her shoulder a few times and she got the picture.  She did so well we even escalated to changing reins across the round pen while maintaining speed and rhythm.  All of this interspersed with lots of breaks where we worked on standing tied, pivots on the hind- and forequarters and the "come here" cue.

Anyhow the best part of the session was at the very end when I gave her a long, long rubdown complete with a face massage to reward her for such a fabulous job.  At the end, I gave her a hug and pressed my face against her neck and realized that I could hear her heart beating.  It was slow, much slower than I would expect.  Maybe because she's so big?  Anyhow it completely mesmerized me and I just let my whole being tune into her being, the sound of her heart beating and her breath whooshing through her throat and the smell and feel of her coat against my face and the weight of her jaw resting on top of my head.

An amazing moment I hope I never forget and can often repeat.

For all those science geeks out there, here are some links on the equine heart:

• The Equine Heart: Anatomy, Function and Performance
• Cardiology: The Equine Heart

Today

Today was a fabulous day for us!  After a solid midday training session yesterday where we were able to hang out on the scary side of the arena at the end and some roundpen groundwork this morning, I rode Starbuck again and she did great, no bucking at all-- phew, what a relief!!!  She did put her head down a couple of times (I pulled it right back up) and she does a lot of head tossing, but I think that as soon as she figures out that it doesn't get her anything she'll stop doing it... she's phased in and out of a lot of bad habits that way.  For instance, she used to obsessively scratch herself on the tying post shifting her weight back and forth, every time I saw her doing it I would very calmly ask her to back up, then scratch her neck when she backed and stopped doing it.  Rinse and repeat, rinse and repeat... after about a month of this she just stopped doing it.

I also took up a light contact on the reins at the walk for the first time today-- I could tell she was 100% comfortable and balanced carrying me so I decided to up the anty just a little bit.  It didn't even phase her, she just kept on truckin'!  I was also able to get a nice trot for two full circles to the right... the left is a lot harder for her and we needed some help from Virginia, but we ended up getting our two full circles to the left too.  So, we've got a good solid walk where she tracks up and I don't have to nag her (much) and the beginnings of a nice trot, she steers and bends nicely without me getting heavy on the reins, our one rein stop is absolutely solid and she stands still while mounting and when I ask her to... what more could I ask?

Oh, yeah, I can ask her to rein-back!  Since I think this is an important exercize even for starting a horse and I finally feel that she's got the forward motion idea down pat, I figured that we could give it a try.  Here's what I did-- I'm writing down the steps because it worked so well, she figured it out in like a minute!

1. Walk her up to the edge of the roundpen facing the fence so she can't go forward.
2. Shift my weight slightly behind my seatbones.
3. Take up a light contact and close my hands on the reins one after the other putting light intermittent pressure on the bars of her mouth.
4. Squeeze my calves against her sides, then give a little kick, then give rythmic squeezes until she takes one little step back.
5. RELEASE ALL PRESSURE IMMEDIATELY AND GIVE HER A LONG PAUSE (slightly longer than you were asking her to back up) AND GOOD NECK RUB!
6. Repeat a few times until she does it without having to kick and then stop while you're ahead!

You can see it all in the video, it's really long (sorry) so if you just want to see the rein-back, fast forward to minute 24:45.  I'm trying to record a couple of training sessions every week and I'm uploading them to my Youtube channel, I think I'll really appreciate having them in a couple of years.

Oh yeah, I also got a photo of the scar I mentioned in the Origins post a couple of days ago, if anyone's interested in seeing it (it's to the right of my hand, she's superfurry right now so sorry if you can't see it well):

Today!

Today we started the day with a candy cane, to celebrate Christmas Eve.  I broke it up into little pieces and left it for her to find with that prehensile upper lip of hers... sooooo cute!  I also gave Barn Kitty some treats:

Afterward we did some on-line groundwork-- working on Parelli's Circle Game to teach her to keep moving without having to constantly remind her, then some direction changes and transitions, then lateral flexion and yielding hind- and forequarters.  She's getting really good at yielding, today I tried driving with the end of the rope instead of applying direct pressure and she didn''t skip a beat.  We also worked on our figure eights... which I think is more of a challenge for me to communicate what I want then for her to do it!

After all that and a good long rest while working on ground tying, I took her into the round pen and mounted up!  Today I practiced mounting and getting down from both sides, so if I ever need to mount her from the off-side she won't freak out.  At first we just worked on moving forward from leg cues (keeping her going is still a major challenge) and after a while of that I kicked it up a notch by asking her to trot.  I DID eventually get a couple of strides of trot out of her but couldn't get her to repeat it, so my friends Ivón and José Luis helped me out a little.  Hopefully soon I can teach her the cue and we don't need an assistant, but I can't complain-- this is only the fourth time I've ridden her after all.

Sometimes she gets a little pissed at me for kicking her, pins her ears and then turns around and looks at my foot, it's super funny but I try to act all outraged so she won't try to bite my foot at some point and then I'll have to get really serious.  Hopefully she'll figure out that if she just moves forward, the pressure and then kicking will stop.  I try to be all discipline but she's just sooooooo good!

Here's a video at the walk:

And again at the trot:

Training Vid Tuesday

Another tradition I want to try out is publishing a weekly video from a trainer I respect and admire which can help me and anyone else become a better horse(wo)man.  Today's is from Julie Goodnight's HorseMaster TV Show and focuses on how to teach your horse a cue to lower its head.  This is useful in so many ways, from beginning to get collection to calming your horse down after a plastic bag monster has attacked it.  So enjoy!

Approach and Retreat

A few days ago I got ahold of Clinton Anderson's Starting Under Saddle DVD series and I've been checking it out.  This guy drives me crazy trying to sell stuff every 30 minutes and he's got the same cheesy catchphrase charisma that Pat Parelli does, but he sure is good at getting his ideas across and teaches useful solution for common training problems.  Yesterday I already taught Starbuck one of his sending exercizes, where the trainer stands to the side of the horse and gets them to move forward back and forth between the trainer and a fence.  I think that in combination with the other nuggets of information these DVDs are going to be really useful!

One of the things that this guy preaches along with nearly all the other bastians of Natural Horsemanship is the "Approach and Retreat" method.  Basically, you move forward with your training until you get the response you want (either for the horse to stand still and do nothing for desensistizing exercizes or for them to move some body part for sensitizing exercizes).  So if your horse is afraid of the flyspray, you just keep spraying at them until they stand still and then take it away.  Of if your horse won't move off when you tell them to, you just increase the pressure and consistently cue them to move until they do, then instantly stop whatever you were doing to "convince" them.

Sound familiar?  That's right, it's the old "the release is the reward" concept.  But what really came home to me with his method is that concept can be used even for lesson planning.  In other words, you get your horse to move her feet, then reward her by letting her stand still, then you reward her for standing still by letting her move her feet, and so on.  So before and after each and every sensitizing (get the horse to move) exercize, he adds a desensitizing exercize.  And I'm not talking about just giving your horse a quick rubdown with the longe whip, I'm talking about 5 - 15 minutes of sacking out with different stuff after every "workout".

I tried this yesterday in a loooooooooooooooooooong training session with Starbuck and it went great!  She usually gets a little burned out after about an hour of training, even when I switch it up a lot and do different stuff.  But before I was just paying attention to her mental and physical state and making sure she didn't get too tired or bored and actually was making the mistake of quitting certain exercizes when she "told" me she didn't like them (pawing the ground or whatnot), thus rewarding her for being uncooperative.  So up until now a standard lesson plan would be like this and would last between an hour and an hour and a half:

1. Grooming, tacking up and lifting hooves.
2. Start with a little low key longeing at the walk and trot using the rope halter.
3. Low key porcupine game, then a quick rubdown.
4. Some more longeing at the walk, trot and canter using the bit.
5. Backing and leading work.
6. Some more porcupine game for fore- and hindquarter yielding and sidepasses.
7. Finishing with a rubdown from the mounting block and / or a brisk walk around the stable yard or parking lot with lots of stops, turns, circles and back-ups.
8. Grooming, untacking and lifting hooves.

Yesterday however I made sure to squeeze at least 5 minutes of desensitizing exercize (sacking out, rubbing, grooming, etc...) between each sensitizing exercize; so the lesson plan went like this and lasted about 3 hours, without her ever getting too bored or tired:

1. Grooming, tacking up and lifting hooves (D).
2. Low key longeing at the walk and trot (S).
3. Flapping the longe whip back and forth to her right and left (D).
4. Some more longeing until she cantered easily in both directions (S).
5. Twirling the longe whip overhead (D).
6. Sending through between me and the fence where that scary new lamp post is (S).
7. Rub down with longe whip and hands, adjusting tack (D).
8. Roundpenning to get consistent direction changes toward me (S).
9. Rubbing and lightly slapping hands all over body, lifting hooves at liberty (D).
10. Sending at liberty between me and the roundpen fence (S).
11. Putting on and taking off bridle, lifting hooves (D).
12. Yielding the hindquarters to indirect feel (craning head towards hindquarters, pointing with longe whip), direction changes (S).
13. Putting on and taking off bridle, lifting hooves, bunny hopping (D).
14. Porcupine game on fore- and hindquarters, lateral flexion of the neck (S).
15. Adjusting tack at tying posts, rubbing, putting on and taking off bridle (D).
16. Longeing with the bit at the walk and trot, giving to the bit to the right and left (S).
17. Rubbing "from above" and half-mounting at mounting block (D).
18. Sending one step at a time from mounting block (S).
19. Grooming, untacking and lifting hooves (D).

I think if I can make sure to remember to plan lessons in this way in the future and to NEVER quit an exercize because she's not doing it well or is bored but just go back to the starting point and practice where she was doing it well, I'll have a much easier time of it!

Sunday

Today I saddled up Chico, a former trot racehorse, and decided to get some riding practice, so my friends Virginia, Carolina and I (I actually just realized what a coincidence their names are) rode out to explore the country roads which wind through the almond and orange groves surrounding the stable grounds.  The weather was gorgeous and we had a really nice ride, culminating in a wild race across a nearby field.  Man, can that horse trot!  We were already going faster than Carolina's horse before Chico even broke into a gallop!  It was lots of fun and I was glad to be back in the saddle, and although I kept wishing I was with Starbuck but I guess that time will come soon enough...

After we got back to the stable I took Starbuck out to do a little longeing and get her a little more used to the bridle-- I used the rope halter for so long that she actually responds better to the halter than to the bridle.  So we worked on longeing and then on lateral flexion, just giving to light pressure on the bit to the right and left.  We also did a little porcupine game to practice moving first her hindquarters and then her shoulders away and finally we even achieved a few sidepasses by combining the two cues... fantastic!  All in all it's been a really positive weekend... just what I needed after a couple of weeks of what seemed like a frustrating lack of results.

I actually have read many many times that often horses will get worse shortly before getting better, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised... also last week was heat week so it was normal for her to be a little PMSsy.  Anyway, here's a video of us working today (thanks Carolina!!!), enjoy!