The Whole Eight Seconds

Sooooo lemme take another sip of this here wine.

Ah. Okay.

Little Mo gave me some grey hair today, I think. We were meant to go XC schooling with M and two of her clients (who are awesome people I love being around). The plan was to just hack him around and let him see spooky things and whatnot with horses who were likely to keep their heads. I had no plans to jump, but maybe go through the water, that kind of thing.

Well, that freaking plan got scrapped immediately. I was the last one on (he's a wiggle worm for tacking up at home, too) and didn't want to keep everyone waiting, so I didn't lunge him. I didn't think I'd need to. This horse has been quite sensible all along.

MISTAKE!

No sooner did I have my right leg over than he's taking off bucking like a rodeo bronc. It was quick and intense. I haven't been properly run off with in quite awhile, and the bucks were coming fast. It was all quite "Jesus take the wheel."

Here are the good things: I stayed on. M was incredibly impressed with how well I sat that shit (I learned something from Lexi, I guess). Mo did calm down eventually after I got off, and we hand-walked the whole school. I let him eat grass and watch. And I did get on him again at the end, in the ring with another horse who let me basically park Mo on his butt the whole time.

Here are the bad things: When he blew his stack, it really blew, and I was surprised. He never quite got his brain back entirely (ran backwards when switching from bridle to halter and took both M and me to get his goddamn halter on; serious loading issues, which is about when I ran out of quarters).

So we have some stuff to work out here, clearly. I'm just planning to take a lesson with M every day until I feel better or until my arms fall off from all the stall mucking I do in exchange for lessons (I'm overusing parantheticals today but I don't care--I just want to say that I feel like I've got the good end of this deal because one lesson with M is worth more to me than a day of mucking stalls. She's amazing).

This is green horses. This is what happens. I don't really know this horse yet. I've only had him for two weeks and known him a short time longer than that. This bucking has always been in there somewhere, I've felt the hitch in his back before. Maybe today he got over it, maybe not. We'll find out.

Baby Mo's First Jumps

I have a feeling that he's not going to be Baby Mo for long. The way this horse learns and improves, he's going to be Grownup Mo in no time. Not that I'm in a rush, of course. I love this green baby phase, and it's even more fun with a horse like this one who really wants to do it right.

Yesterday, M came down to the barn while I was finishing up chores and announced in her sunny way that "we're going to jump your horse today!" I was pretty excited. Nothing about this horse made me worry that it was going to be a disaster. Plus I really trust M.

We started out walking and then trotting through a set of four trot poles. It took him a minute to catch on, and we had a couple run out attempts (run outs are about steering. Mo and I do not have our steering down 100% yet. We'll fix it). But when he got it, he really got it. His footfalls were perfect and he understood, I think, that this exercise is easier when he's in front of the leg.

After that, I let him canter once around to solidify the idea of forward (well, after we got the lead issue sorted--this is a work in progress). Then M set a half crossrail over a flower box and we trotted over it. Kind of, anyway: the horse was like WAIT I don't know where my feet go. So he literally stepped his front feet over it and stopped. I was laughing so hard that I was gasping for air while I tried to kick him. Then he did it better each time. M switched the rails to put the other side in the cup, and then put the whole thing up, and Mo did his first actual x. (I apologize, to SprinklerBandit most of all, for not having photos of the stripeyface jumping. There's no one around to take pics most of the time.)

This one we jumped toward the camera.

 After we jumped this one a couple times out of a trot without stalling out, she set three other little cross rails and told me to find a course that included them all, starting with the one he knew. I just picked a simple hunterish diagonal-outside-diagonal-outside route. We circled back and repeated a couple to emphasize rhythm. He only made one mistake, crashing into the second one a little bit.

This one we jumped away.
You can see our trot poles in the background.

But each time he came back to this one, he actually jumped it a bit instead of just stepping over it. Eventually he will realize that he can, in fact, leave the ground. That he didn't come to that conclusion on the first day is basically what I'd expect for a horse who's been as quiet as he has been thus far.

Then the easy one with no fill or anything.

No problemo.

And finally, the one with the spooky barrels, that he did not spook at because he rocks.

He'll be going over those barrels before he knows it.

Then we did the first one one more time and called it a day. I took him on our first solo hack, which he really enjoyed, even when two trailers came rattling down the driveway. He's been so much fun so far, I can't even stand it.

Tomorrow, if all goes to plan, we'll be tagging along on an XC school. I don't expect we'll do much more than hack around, go through the water and over a ditch, and generally work on behavior. Maybe step over a log. I'll be sure to keep y'all posted.

Real Talk with Denny: Too Much Horse

I adore the hell out of Denny Emerson and have for a long time. When I was a kid, I desperately wanted to be his working student (though I'm not sure my sensitive teenage self could have handled it). I read How Good Riders Get Good and then read it again and again. He's a genius, and he's hilarious. If you don't follow him on Facebook, follow him on Facebook.

Lately he's been railing against the upper levels of eventing and endurance, because horses are dying and this is bad. Go check out his feed. He compares the upper levels of these sports to the X Games, and denounces them for pushing horses to the very outer edges of their abilities, to the point that it's rare for a horse to be able to compete at the very top level for more than a year or two without becoming lame or demoralized, if not dying at or just after the competition altogether. A good event, he says, should not be one in which no horses or riders died.

I'm with him on this, and this is my main hesitation with getting into eventing. I'm happy to go Novice or Training or even Prelim, but I have no desire whatsoever to go Advanced. On the other hand, I'll do basically anything in show jumping. I'm not good enough to be at the upper levels of show jumping yet, but I want to get there.

I'm really writing this because today Denny's posts have been about what SprinklerBandit might call Happy Horse Ownership. He's on a roll about why people have the wrong horses and what they can or should do about it--or, more specifically, why they keep the wrong horses. Here, I'm just going to quote him directly and at length. All of these posts are from today, September 9.

We all know the saying, "delusions of grandeur" (Tang THINKS he`s a bobcat), but too often that attitude lands riders with horses they can`t quite ride.

Now what?

Three scenarios, I think.

1. The rider improves enough to ride the horse, usually by riding quieter horses.
2. A better trainer rides the horse until it calms down enough to be ridden by the owner.
3. A combination of both---

Or, unhappy 4, the pair struggle away, sometimes for years, what we often see in "real life."

And then: 
 

"WHY do so many riders have horses that are "too much horse?"

We all consumed and loved all the great horse books for kids, but, let`s face it, the message they sent us isn`t real.

A 12 year old who`d never ridden didn`t REALLY tame a 17 hand wild black stallion, with neither riding lessons nor helmet, I don`t think.

But it`s easy to feed into that 12 year old mentality, not just because of books and movies, but because there`s something wildly appealing to the essence of the myth.

It`s when we get older, can afford a horse, but still linger in Fantasy Land, that we make big mistakes, avoid the "Plain Jane" that we can ride and learn on, and instead get the fancy one who makes us white knuckled with apprehension every ride.

And once "there" the terrible "But I love him" kicks in, and we are trapped. And he is, too. We make each other miserable, and we can`t see a way out."

And then:

 The "snowball effect", also known as the "downward spiral."

You picture yourself leaping off the Hickstead bank, but your reality is that you should be trotting crossrails.

You push ahead too soon, and your lack of skills makes the horse (a creature of flight) nervous.

The nervous horse does what nervous horses do, gets quick, maybe starts to rush or quit, jigs, those normal response behaviors.

HIS nervousness makes YOU more nervous. Or frustrated. Or angry. Or all of the above.

You get more tight, more rigid, perhaps more demanding.

He gets more nervous, and the snowball builds, the downward spiral spirals, and you are both in big trouble.

 And:

Deep in our dark little hearts we do know the way out of the "too much horse" trap, but it`s not easy to get free.

It`s to get one that we can ride or drive safely, and find a different home for the one we can`t.

I can hear the howls of protest all the way up here in Strafford, Vermont.

notlisteningnotlisteningnotlisteningnotlistening

[Hee.]

And finally, the last line of this is one I need to remember because it's hard for me to not be all worried about people who are clearly on the wrong horses:

One final thought regarding the "too much horse" dilemma.

We all know some riders who WILL NOT GIVE UP the inappropriate horse. Because of fear of where he will end up, or because of stubborn pride, or because they can`t see what we all see, or whatever other reason.

SO---Reality time---

EITHER the rider or driver will continue with white knuckled fear each ride or drive--OR, the rider will eventually get hurt---OR, the horse will end up as a pasture ornament, and the rider will stop riding for as long as it takes for the horse to die of old age.

And, unless we are the parents or have another heavily vested interest in the well being of that person, IT IS NOT UP TO US TO DECIDE.

What are your thoughts here?

Red's Got Energy

I have a gross cold/sinus infection/lung crud and it's slowing me down a lot. This is, of course, annoying me to death. And as my energy is draining, my horses are feeling fantastic. This tips the scale in their favor, but fortunately they're kind beasts.

Yesterday a friend came over to ride Red. She's a good rider but about a decade out of practice. Red had been off for a couple days, plus the temps dropped a good ten degrees and he'd been in the night before because of thunderstorms. So I hopped on him first to make sure he'd be good. 

He was good, but definitely forward. After she did some wtc for awhile, I got on to pop him over two tiny jumps I'd set up in the ring. (I'd dragged some blocks out of the barn to use as standards and every single horse spooked at them on the way to turnout yesterday. Never would have guessed that!) I'd never jumped him so I didn't know what to expect really, other than assuming he'd be forward. 

HE WAS. The old guy took over two strides out the first couple times. We got on the same page eventually, but he's clearly happy to leave the stride out. When we got six strides trotting into a 60' line of two 2' jumps, I called it a day. 

I don't want to over-do it with him, so I'm going to have to be disciplined. He's a really good jumper and clearly LOVES it. Tempting to jump a lot, but better to just jump a little here and there for longer. That said, I'm going to look around for some tiny schooling shows in October. I'd love to just do the little 2'6" stuff, which I don't think we'd have to practice too much for, thus preserving his leg. 

And finally, I think he's looking better all the time. Not where I want him yet, especially going into winter, but getting there!

Cantering and baby trail riding

My little baby horse got another gold star on his report card yesterday!

(Note: a dear friend from high school and her 10 year old daughter came over to ride Red a couple days ago. I told them they need to come to Mary's with me sometime and meet my baby horse. Her daughter was like "I wanna see a baby horse!!!!"--I guess Rocket doesn't count since she's enormous--and my friend said, "Not a literal baby. It's like how I call you my baby." She was disappointed. And now I have to track down a baby horse for her to pet.)

Mo loves neck scratches.

Anyway, yesterday was designated as Mo's date with canter transitions. We've been working on this on the lunge line and he's kinda lazy about staying in the canter and getting the proper lead. I wasn't sure what was going to happen when we asked for it in the lesson, but I thought there was a good chance M was gonna have to deploy the lunge whip. 

There was no need! He was a little balky at the walk. I think he was tired, this was his fifth day in a row being ridden. But once we started trotting, he did super well. And then I just asked for more trot until one more kick brought the canter. He just stepped into it and cruised around, every time I asked. He felt balanced enough that I wasn't worried about corners. I stayed in a half seat with soft reins and my hands by his neck so nothing stopped him going forward. It was AMAZING. He was perfect. 

A couple times he didn't feel like he was gonna get the lead, so we just regrouped and tried again and he got it. So smart. Between canters, we did some walk-trot transitions to keep him thinking. The walk is definitely our toughest gate. The good news is, since he now knows his voice commands (and doesn't need the lunging to make him relax or focus), I don't have to lunge him before every ride now. This is excellent news. I will dutifully lunge because I must, but it's one of my least favorite things to do. Mo makes it less painful because he's such a good boy, but I think we'll both be happy to skip it. And that means I can sit on him a couple extra minutes. Nothing wrong with that!

At the end of the pretty short lesson (that M said would be her easiest of the week), she told me to ride him out of the ring and around the outside of it and then back to the barn. We have a deer family that lives outside the ring, and I mentally prepared myself for a spook and spin if any of then leapt out at him, but none did. He looked around at the world, interested but not tense, and seemed happy for a new activity. 

HOW DID I GET THIS LUCKY. I want to know.

Go Forward, Moses

My little stripey-face is quite a darling, I have to say.

My dad came to the barn and took real pics with his camera!

Our biggest problem right now is getting him to go. forward. Especially at the walk. He really sees no reason to hurry. The other end of the ring will still be there when we get there. At the trot, he's a little better. He will actually proceed at a reasonable pace, though not as much trot as I will eventually want from him. Considering how green he is, I think this is fine. A 10 trot wasn't built in a day.

That grey saddle pad looks smashing on him.

We're working on this on the lunge line--I insist on a more forward walk or trot, and he has to deliver. He's not at all worried about the whip, which is great, but I'd like for him to react to it more sometimes. I carry a dressage whip when I ride him, and might eventually carry one in each hand if he doesn't get the point.

Mo is the most naturally balanced green horse I've ever worked with.

Who knows what he'll be like in two months. He might suddenly become a whole lot of horse. Maybe it'll turn out that the first time he sees a jump, he gets super excited and doesn't come back. That's all fine. If he wants to be super chill now while he's getting broke, and then hot and sensitive when it's time to jump...that's kind of perfect.

I look insane in gliterally every picture I appear in ever.
Just focus on how cute that freaking horse is.

But no matter what happens with him, I'm sure glad he's here. If nothing else, he's reminding me that I do in fact know how to use my leg!

Look at the east coast's cutest stripey, not the sweaty weird human!

In Which I Realize I am Copying SprinklerBandit

I admire quite a lot of horse people, many of whom are y'all cool blogging people. When I started blogging, SprinklerBandit was one of the first people I reached out to. She didn't know me at all, but we struck up a correspondence that has only gotten more fun with time. We have a lot of stuff in common, but most clearly we are living a weird parallel horse life. To be more specific, I think I'm copying her.

[All photos of SB's horses below are courtesy of her, and I have her permission to include the details of her life here.]

First, we both got our riding lives re-started with amazing thoroughbred mares. Duchess is the most wonderful horse imaginable. And it was a total twist of fate that got me to her. I was Facebook friends with a guy I knew from grad school who posted a picture of his cat "reading" a book. The cat was on a saddle pad. I immediately was like IS THAT CAT ON A SADDLE PAD OMG I WANNA RIDE A HORSE. I was so sick of being a grad student and just wanted to do something I knew I was good at: riding. My friend was all, "Yeah, my girlfriend rides." He hooked us up right away and within a day I was riding the wonderful Duchess. His girlfriend Shelly became one of my dearest and most important friends. I will never be able to thank her enough for getting me back on a horse. The credit is shared equally between her and Duchess, who never does anything remotely bad and just loves to be adored, as she deserves.

Duchess

SB ended up riding Cassie, the mare she grew up riding. She got back into horses as an adult and rode Cassie, an off-track TB mare like Duchess. If I recall correctly, she also leased Cassie in high school. I'm not sure how similar the mares really are, but they both got us back into horses, and for that we both owe them a lot.

SB and Cassie

Then, we wound up with complicated, difficult, beautiful mares (mine a TB, hers a TBxOldenburg). The stories here are a bit different, as I was and remain absolutely crazy about Lex and I know that if she hadn't had the issues with nuchal bursitis, I'd still have her and we'd be fine. Izzy, on the other hand, was just not the right horse for SB at the time. No harm, no foul.

Afleet Alexia

Wishful Thinking

These are two gorgeous mares. Fancy, talented, brilliant, and very much their own people. We both got the best out of them we possibly could. When we knew it wasn't going to work, we were both decisive about finding them new homes. Again, if my memory serves, we managed to find good homes for them within a week or so. 

Look how great SB and Izzy look here.
SB deserves props for making the best of a tough horse.

I miss her so much. All the time.

Upon the times SB and I were each realizing we weren't going to be able to make things work with our mares, we sort of accidentally wound up with the world's two leading grumpy old man chestnut horses. Both of these boys are diamonds in the rough. Not everyone could see how cool Cuna was, but SB knew right away that he was the one for her. Similarly, Red was dumped by his owner when he injured his leg. A friend of mine took the best care of him she could, and when she knew she couldn't manage him the way he needed, she passed him along to me.

Redmond, back when he was even thinner.

Cuna, the best horse in all ways.

As you know if you read SB's blog, Cuna passed away. The world will always miss that wonderful guy, even those of us who never met him in person. He came alive for all of us through her writing, and is thus immortalized. I am fortunate to still have my big red guy, as we're just beginning our journey, and enjoy riding him every day. He's always got something to teach me, and I look forward to doing a couple little jumper shows with him eventually.

Both Cuna and Red are fans of trail riding.

Cuna

Red

And in general being totally adorable.

I need people to come over and take pictures, dammit.

 And then, finally, we found the stripey-faced young thoroughbreds who we have the pleasure of bringing along. First SB got Courage, and now I have Mo, who I hope will be half as good as Courage is.

Kissable Nose #1

Kissable Nose #2

Everything about this is maximum adorable.

As far as people to copy goes, SB is a good choice! I recommend it. (She'd probably advise skipping her witchy mare, but Lex taught me so much that I'm glad I had her in my life. To be fair, I never got hurt riding Lexi and SB can't say the same about Izzy.)

May the trend of wonderful horses continue for both of us and all of you. And for those of you who want or need a Grumpy Old Man Chestnut, we'll send our GOMC vibes your way.