A bad day

We had a pretty bad day yesterday, Starbuck and I.  We were accompanied by Virginia and Coco, René and Rodrigo, Ana and Pepa and Carmen and Trueno - right off the bat Starbuck was very possesive of Coco and pinned her ears and pointed her butt at anyone who came near.  This was annoying but not really troubling to me - I tend to just ignore the pinned ears and try to see it as an opportunity to improve my leg aids getting her rear end back on track.  In addition to acting bitchy, she was also really full of beans - trying to get in front constantly and just general ADHD stuff - for instance when we got to a park with some hills where the other horses just walked calmly, she just had to gallop up, nearly unseating me when I lost my stirrups.  Thank goodness I remembered to grab mane and turn her in a circle.

 It went on and on - nothing too terrible for the most part but just her being only barely controllable, which wound me up, which wound her up even further, which made things worse.  To look on the bright side, it was a really interesting new route we'd never been on before with what looked like plenty of new places to explore on future rides, we did a fair amount of trotting on varied terrain so she was able to use her muscles differently than she does in the arena, and she was certainly tracking up the entire time.  One of the things I think is so valuable about our trail rides is that I don't tend to have to push her and can really practice trotting and cantering without constant leg cues, and yesterday was no exception - only I ended up with a sore back, a tension headache and blisters on my hands from the reins, so I don't even want to think about (but am making myself acknowledge) how her back and mouth must have felt.

On the way home things were even worse - she broke into a full out gallop several times and to discipline her I took what may not have been one of my best decisions of all time - every time she broke into a gallop I'd turn her around, walk her to the end of the group and only let her catch up with the group at a walk or a slow trot.  This understandably pissed her off even more, but I can't always let her have her way, especially if it entails unsafe behavior around other horses.  Anyhow this strategy worked more or less until we got back to the hilly park, where the rest of the horses walked down the hill and since she wanted to gallop and I wasn't able to rate her, I wouldn't let her go after them.  We circled and circled at the top of the hill and as the rest of the horses moved on out of sight she got more and more frantic until finally my friend Virginia came back with Coco to rescue us and we followed them down - at a trot, which was faster than I wanted but slower than Starbuck wanted.  I guess this is an example of “a good negotiation is one where both parties walk equally unhappy”.  I am now convinced that what I should have done is get off then and walk her down in hand, but I was too frantic to think clearly about anything but my aids and immediate strategy for not getting us killed.

The most serious scare was when we passed some people who were fixing a stone wall on the side of the road - a little old lady helping them started telling me "How lovely to see people riding horses out here in the countryside on a Sunday" when two cars passed us and Starbuck freaked out, lunging towards the poor little old lady before getting back in line and passing her.  She didn't get closer than about 5 feet, but still - it was still much too close for comfort and I felt awful for the poor lady.  I was so freaked out I don't even remember if I apologized.  Then only a few minutes later Carmen's horse Trueno got a little closer to Starbuck's rear end than she wanted and she gave a mini buck and then a BIG buck when he didn't heed the first one - thankfully he wasn't close enough for her to reach him but still... I was really losing it at this point - after two hours of tension and barely controlled explosions I was starting to really feel angry and superfrustrated and noticed that I was starting to do things like jerk on the reins and use the whip as a punishment.  So as soon as we got off the road I stopped her as soon as I could and jumped off and led her the rest of the way back to the stable, which was good for both of our backs anyway.  But I was feeling guilty, pissed, and scared.

By the time I longed her in the arena (no way she was getting off easy after the ride she gave me), showered her, rubbed her down and gave her a nice pile of hay, I was able to be a little more philosophical.  I do think my biggest mistake was not getting off earlier but trying to muscle my way through her craziness by riding, so next time I'll bring my long lead rope so I can do some emergency longeing if I need to.  Lesson # 1 learned.  Other lessons: it's important to be reminded from time to time that no matter how well she behaves on one trail ride (or lesson, or show, or whatever...), it's no guarantee she'll behave so well the next time, and that I can't get cocky since I still can't necessarily control her all the time.  I'm also going to get a green ribbon for her tail to give people (myself included) a visual reminder that she's not completely predictable, and I will never again stop right in front of a little old lady, even if it means being rude.

Mostly, I have to remember that we all have bad days, and I can't get bogged down or discouraged by this one, no matter how harrowing it was.  After all, it wasn't SO bad - we discovered a new route and went on a trail ride in sketchy (wind, dark threatening clouds) weather without maiming anyone, including ourselves.  And although it was touch and go at some points, I WAS still able to control her in the end.  I'm even trying to be optimistic and remember that usually when she has several really bad days close together it generally signals a learning spurt.  But still, next year she's getting liability insurance - it'll be one less thing to worry about.

Key Concepts: The Learning Zone

Traditionally, horse training in America was called "breaking" and at its best used methods like these:



At its worst, techniques like roping a horse to the ground like a calf or tying her to a post while she struggled to get free, sometimes flipping over backwards or breaking her neck in a panic, were used with a fair amount of frequency.  The idea was to show the horse that the trainer was bigger, stronger, badder and smarter than her so the horse would accept her trianer as "dominant" and submit to his or her wishes.  Sound familiar?  That's right, it's the same old dominance / alpha male theory I talked about a few posts back.

While certainly effective for forcing basic training on a large number of horses in a very short time (think Wild West), there's another reason that these methods are not only cruel but inefficient for today's horse training demands.  When faced with a situation where they feel intense stress or fear, horses tend not to remember anything but the stress and fear and exactly what caused it.  Have you ever walked up to a horse that as soon as it saw you carrying a riding crop freaked out?  This doesn't necessarily mean that the horse has been beaten repeatedly with a riding crop, it may just be that she experienced extreme stress and fear at some point when the crop was used (for example someone yelling at her while showing her the crop, etc...).  So if your horse is panicking while you're trying to teach her, probably the only thing she'll remember about it is that the last time you asked her to do such and such she panicked.

So how can I avoid this trap and try to make sure that Starbuck only remembers the positive things, conveniently forgetting my mistakes or any negative experience?  What I try to ALWAYS is make sure that she's in the learning zone, in other words attentive and aware of my requests but relaxed and breathing normally.  If I try to do something new and she starts showing even the first signs of wanting to run away (ears back, hindquarters shifting away, head raised), what I do is back off to something she's comfortable with and then little by little introduce the new thing until she can be calm while we do it.

I've learned from experience that this may be frustrating at first since it seems like you're going soooooo slow and we humans have the urge to start out with the hardest part first because then the easy part will be way easier, right?  WRONG!  For example the first time I put the leg protectors on Starbuck she was really NOT ready for them and I had to "trick" her in to letting me get them on because I was kind of in a hurry that day.  Thinking that now that she's got them on she'll just realize that they're not going to hurt her and get used to them, right?  WRONG AGAIN!  It took like 3 weeks after that first day of coaxing and friendly game all over her body with the protectors every single day for like 20 - 30 minutes for her to finally get to the point where she's cool with me putting them on.  On the other hand, I really took my time with the saddle the first few times and she had no problem whatsoever with me putting it on her after the first day, even tightening the cinch as much as I can!

Because of this, keeping Starbuck in the learning zone has become a major goal for me every second of every day and I try to never let my own frustration, impatience or fear show through or introduce her too quickly to new things I haven't correctly prepared her for since.

Key Concepts: Leadership over Dominance

A lot of people have the idea that the "trick" behind horse training is cultivating a dominant persona so that the  horse will thus be submissive to you.  And they're not too far off, since horses are hierarchical animals and a horse who feels like he's your "herd superior" will at the very least cop an obnoxious attitude and can end up downright dangerous if you don't do what he wants.  Kicking, biting and bargeing into your space are all actions that a horse does to test or show dominance, since in a herd the horse that eats first, drinks first and moves the other horses out of his way is the highest up on the ladder.  So why not try the "Silverback" theory?  First, a little National Geographic style background info:

Horses in the wild tend to live in herds which are governed by two horses; a stallion and a mare.  The Alpha stallion's purpose is to make babies, drive out maturing colts and fillies to prevent inbreeding and protect the herd from predators or other stallions.  He gains and maintains his position in the herd by shows of bravery and physical ability like fighting with other stallions or showing his physical fitness by prancing around the herd.  If the herd must flee, he usually remains in the rear to keep all the other horses running quickly and defend the herd in case a predator catches up with them.  The Alpha or lead mare is the strategist and disciplinarian, choosing where the herd will stop to eat, drink, and sleep, establishing the rhythm the herd will travel at and punishing any horses who are "misbehaving" by driving them temporarily to the outside of the herd.  The rest of the horses instinctively look to the herd mare for whether to be on guard or relax in any situation and tend to trust her judgement implicitly, and when the herd flees she is usually at its forefront to guide them to a safe haven.  She is generally one of the older mares and thus often isn't the strongest physically and doesn't achieve her position by fighting or mating with the stallion but by earning the respect and trust of the rest of the herd.

So in your own herd of two, who would you rather your horse associate you with?  The stallion or the mare?  Personally, I think choosing where and how fast my horse goes, what and when she eats and how she behaves is a lot more useful than all that stallion stuff.  What's the challenge?  That it's not enough to prove that I'm bigger, badder, stronger or smarter than her (traditional dominance theory).  I have to show leadership and gain her trust by proving that I consistently choose safe and pleasant things to do and places to go, that I won't ever let her go hungry or thirsty and that I will not tolerate any disrespectful behavior.  This way, hopefully some day she'll do the things I ask her to not because she fears me or is simply submitting to my will, but because she recognizes that I'll never ask her to do anything that's not safe or in her best interest in the long run.

Making Friends

Today Starbuck seemed to be a little sore from her workout yesterday so I decided to take advantage of the fact that no one was around and set her loose in the arena.  She was completely unfazed and started grazing at the edges right away.  When my friend Virgina saw that Starbuck was loose she suggested bringing her mare Coco out as well, so we set them loose together!  After the first quickly won dominance play by Coco, they got along really well and spent some quality time grazing together and even doing some mutual grooming at the end!  But the funnest part was at one point they were running across the arena and Starbuck spontaneously cleared a two foot high jump!!!  Here are the photos!