Trying crazy things

Don't ya hate it when you are in the moment, working with your horse, and in the back of your mind you're thinking "This would be a great blog entry!" and you come up with a snazzy title and great witty content and can't wait to blog about it... and then by the time you actually get to sit down in front of the computer... it's gone.

I knew I should've written it that night, haha!!

I am so incredibly busy you have no idea, work is GO GO GO right now.  We are gearing up for training 5 new Helpdesk associates, and it's my job to facilitate the training.  The goal to train all five in a week.  YIKES.  I'm recruiting as much help as I can from some of the more senior tenured Helpdesk agents, but still, it's going to be a lot of work! Yet, I AM SO EXCITED!! I love training and this is such a huge opportunity for me and will look awesome on a resume.  Then, on top of that I have a butt ton of work for school this week, 2 exams down, 1 to go, and a pretty substantial writing assignment due. Go me!

Anyway.

As far as horsey happenings go: The group is still absolutely saturated, we got another good rainstorm the other night which didn't help matters any.  It is as wet as can be.  I haven't ridden Cash in a good two weeks. Boo.  Since the round pen is super mucky as it sits in a low area my only option is the arena.  But, go figure, the only dry patch in the arena is up by the scary end. I lunged him over there on Saturday and that... didn't go well.  So, on Monday I decided to try something crazy.

I had been considering trying to ride him in the dry lot (which dries up faster than anywhere else), I've lunged him out there before, but trying to dodge the other horses can be tricky.  On a whim, after catching him (which he's still being super difficult about... bugger) I decided to just jog him in hand around the perimeter of the lot.  And, as I had figured might happen the pony started following us around at the trot, and then, when he decided that was boring took off bucking past us, this triggered two other horses to also scoot n' boot.  Cash got a little tight but really did a great job of staying with me.  Sooo... yeah, riding in the dry lot not an option!

BUT, since he was being so good about staying relaxed next to me I thought I'd try it in the arena. I figured, either this is going to be craziness and not work, or it's going to help with that scary end of the arena.

And... I think it worked!  I did it again yesterday evening with similar success.  The data is still preliminary, but I'll keep it at it for awhile and see what happens.  Not exactly your most traditional horse training technique, but if it works it works right?

Well hey there handsome

Lastly, the farrier was finally able to get out there yesterday to do Cash's feet after having to reschedule due to the flood, a week of playing phone tag later we finally were able to pick a time.  In the course of chatting with my farrier he asked where I got Cash from... I told him the name of the breeder and turns out that my farrier used to trim/shoe horses for him.  He said that, if this is the horse he's thinking of, that he "kicked the snot out of" the breeder one day.  I said that when I got Cash the breeder had told me about another horse he had who was a known kicker and he was hoping to find a cowboy to take on as a project.  At any rate, my farrier said he'd ask the breeder about it and if it is the same horse.  Sure would be interesting to find out!  Would also be kinda cool to find out if this farrier has indeed done my horse's feet before.  Small world, eh?

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Listen to Me!

A bit behind on blogging, I'll admit, but oh well.  I spent a week in California on vacation--I got to hang out with my aunt, my cousin and her kids, my grandparents, and just enjoy a week of no work, no errands, no appointments, no running around, no alarm clock in the morning--it was fantastic!!

I am slowly but surely figuring out how to reprimand Cash.  First, is his spooking, I am starting to find that line between yes, he is actually spooking, and no, now he's just being a jerk.  Yesterday was a great example, I was lunging him and he initially was very looky at "that end" of the arena.  I let him stop and look, and then move on again.  But he kept looking each time we'd come around and would get this little pattern going: slow down, duck in, speed up, pull out.... and after about 10 times of this I was like "Ok, enough. Time for you to listen."

So when he slowed down I snapped his butt with the whip, when he ducked in I snapped his shoulder, when he sped up and pulled out I gave him a nice pull back in and by then we were back to his slow down spot and I repeated. He's a smart cookie, once I was onto his game it only took me doing this twice for him to go "Oh, sorry mom, I'll listen." Turd.

I experimented too with a side rein set up and I'm super pleased with the results.  When lunging (and when riding) he really braces in his neck and can pull and fall in super easily as a result.  I'm not a huge side rein fan as I feel that they are very unforgiving and hard on a horse's mouth--there just is no suppling action.  So what I did was attach a side rein to the outside to be that steady outside rein the horse works into.  On the inside I took the lunge line and ran it through the bit and back to the girth and attached it as the same height as the side rein.  This gave me that inside rein suppling factor and a GREAT way to also effectively disengage him when he tries to brace and pull on the lunge line.  I can say that I've been really happy with the results of how he carried himself the last couple of lunging sessions.

My training goals for Cash for the foreseeable future are two very simple things:

1. Rhythm and Relaxation
2. LISTEN

Note the emphasis on #2... this also applies to in hand.  I'm making it a point of taking him out for walks on the road, and he can sometimes loose focus and starts invading my space.  The week before I was in Cali he decided to suddenly take a feel good leap forward during which he then kicked out at me and caught me square in the knee.  I kid you not I thought I didn't have a knee anymore as it instantly went numb.  Thankfully I must have got just the end of the kick because I could still walk just fine and I promptly brought the fear of god down upon him--I was NOT happy!  He's been much, much more respectful now and listens instantly the moment I correct him.  There is a reason I hand walk this horse in a stud chain!

So, I've decided to implement a rule of that he is allowed ONE good look for each scary item, after which he HAS to listen to me.  Also, when he gets his one look, he is looking only, no slowing down, no speeding up, no stopping unless I say, and especially no spinning and trying to go the other way.  Sounds simple enough, right??

On another note, go take a look at this cutie!! If I had the money for another horse I would so snatch him up, just look at that uphill canter! http://denver.craigslist.org/grd/3935382886.html

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What the...

Cash continues to be difficult to catch.  I had to follow him around for 15 minutes the other day before he let me lay a hand on his halter.  I did have the baby monitor on me and it initially was on but when he gave it a wayward glance I turned it off and stuffed it in my pocket. 

When I turned him out yesterday after catching him and messing with him I practiced putting the rope over his neck, the first time I casually did it he jumped and about bolted--a reaction I was totally unprepared for!! So, I worked with that a bit until he calmed down, then I let him loose with praise and lots of cookies.

Today, the wind picked up and with temps only hovering around 30*F today my barn owner went out to blanket the horses to keep them cozy with the dropping wind chill.  However, she called me and said that when she went to put the blanket on him he spooked and pulled the halter out of her hand and took off and would not let her catch him again.

So, I'm stumped.

A month ago I could walk out there and put his blanket on with no halter, no lead, nothing.  He would see me and come walking up to be caught.  Now he's back to square 1.  I don't get it.

Guess I see lots of de-sensitization in the future... and lots of loves n hugs n goodies to make him want to be caught again.

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Confronting the Spook

At what point do you determine that a horse is genuinely scared of something versus just being naughty?

Do you soothe the horse, letting him know that it's OK? Or do you discipline him in hopes that he learns he will be corrected should he act up again.

But the thing about giving discipline for naughty spooking is this: some horses are looking for that confrontation. They want you to get against them, they want to fight back, they want to get into that battle with you. So, giving them discipline is in fact just adding fuel to their fire, they will continue to spook (and spook harder) over and over again knowing that they can egg you into a fight.

As the rider it is so important to just ignore the horse and not do anything. At all. To just ride out the spook and shrug your shoulders and go "no big deal" and continue riding and doing what you were doing. To the naughty spooker this just bursts his bubble. He doesn't get the reaction he wanted from you and instead has to continue on with whatever it was that you were working on. Eventually he looses interest in spooking and becomes rideable.

But the problem with the rider is emotional attachment.  This is your horse, your friend, and you have great expectations for your horsey partner and want them to succeed so badly, so every little miss-step is a huge deal to you. You get upset that your horse is not performing and become flustered and frustrated. The horse picks up on this and it just snowballs.  I think the single hardest thing when working with a spooky or naughty horse is remaining emotionally detached. Especially with a horse you know and love. It's not easy, it's hard.

So, my plan for Cash is this: essentially stay away from that "stupid corner", work in areas of the arena that I know he'll behave in, and really focus on the core elements of his training, of staying in front of the leg and moving off the aids. Once I feel that he is more solid in listening to my cues we will readdress the issue of the spooky corner. As much as I want to push him through his spooking and try and correct it, I know I need to fix the underlying issue before I can even think about correcting the spook.

Wish me luck!

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